Pokémon Adventures: Chronicles of Hoenn
by CaptSpeed
Summary: Decades have passed since the first adventures of the Dex Holders. Things have changed and new villains are aiming to take down the Pokémon League, after some years of covered lies. Neo, Colt and Lyon are starting their journeys and they'll face some rough times, while trying to achieve their dreams. SYOC story, contains Game/Anime elements and some Pokémon theories. [On hiatus]
1. Character List and Rules

**Welcome to my SYOC story and I hope that you stay with us for the rest of the story!  
**

_**Last updated: 15/9/2015**_

* * *

**Character List:**

**0 – Neo** – _Captspeed_

»»Pokémon:

Ralts (F)

Psyduck (M)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Purple

Eye Color: Red

Age: 16

Sign: Aquarius

Family: Silver (father); Sabrina (mother); Mars (aunt); Giovanni (grandfather); Ariana (grandmother); Ethan/Gold

(godfather); Half-sister

Goal: Psychic type specialist / Gym leader

Similar characters: Inaho Kaizuka (Aldnoah Zero); Arslan (Arslan Senki); Akira Hayama (Shokugeki no Soma)

**1 – Colt** – _crankiestnebula_

»»Pokémon:

Tyrantrum (M)

Charizard (M)

Dragonair (M)

Gyarados (F)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Light blue

Eye Color: Orange

Age: 17

Sign: Libra

Family: Lance (father); Claire (mother)

Goal: Dragon type specialist / Champion

Similar characters: Archer, Shirou Emiya (Fate/stay night); Lance (Pokémon)

**2 – Tobias Tenebris** – _RagingKoopatroopa_

**3 – Oliver Rockefeller** –_ Legacy918_

»»Pokémon:

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Dark blue

Eye Color: Sapphire blue

Age: 18

Sign: Virgo

Family: Unknown

Goal: Champion / Competitive battling teacher

**4 – Yuki Akihito** –_ 666funtimes_

**5 – Daniel Claire** – _Tatopatato_

**6 – Erina Tahira** – _RansomeNote_

»»Pokémon:

Zangoose - Fang (M)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Royal blue

Age: 16

Sign: Aquarius

Family: Unknown

Goal: Pokémon detective / Private investigator

**7 – Korianne Smith** – _Koraru Kinomoto_

»»Pokémon:

Totodile (M)

Spheal (M)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Brown; Green tips

Eye Color: Hazel

Age: 19

Sign: Libra

Family: Older brother

Goal: Unknown

**8 – Peter Joseph Hughes** –_ sonofthetrigod_

**9 – Dillon Creiss** – _JJun_

»»Pokémon:

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Mint-green

Eye Color: Greenish-blue

Age: 16

Sign: Cancer

Family: Curtis (father); Yancy (mother)

Goal: TV host and journalist / Commentator of Pokémon League

**10 – Lyon** – _KomoriRin_

»»Pokémon:

Tyrogue - Ty (M)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Dark red-brown

Eye Color: Grey-blue

Age: 16

Sign: Scorpio

Family: Elaine (mother); Brawly (uncle)

Goal: Fighting type specialist

**Gym Leaders:**

_**Petalburg City:**_ Svetlana Lagunov – Steel – _BigBravo_

»»Pokémon:

Empoleon - Puzyri (M)

Aggron - Vasili (M)

Excadrill - Mole (M)

»»Profile:

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Steel-blue

Age: 25

Sign: Pisces

Similar characters: Anne Hathaway

_**Rusboro City:**_ ? – Water

_**Dewford Town:**_ Tristan Creiss – Ground – _JJun_

_**Mauville City:**_ Syndaloria Terran – Bug – _Remvis_

_**Lavaridge Town:**_ ? – Fire – _KomoriRin_

_**Fortree City:**_ Lea Verias – Ghost – _RagingKoopatroopa_

_**Mossdeep City:** _Jonathan David Stauffer – Dark – _sonofthetrigod_

_**Sootopolis City:**_ ?

* * *

**A/N:** **For those interested in creating an OC character, please firstly read the story and don't forget to base your character on the given information.**

**Rules:**

**1: School is now obligatory for every trainer and the normal age of graduation is 16 years old.**

**2: Every character needs a clear goal to achieve. They can still enter tournaments and League's matches to become the Champion/Gym Leaders/E4, but I wanted to create a story with a good number of unique characters (Police officers, medics, movie start, specialist in one type, researcher, etc).  
**

**3: There will be a new evil and good teams. More details will be revealed on upcoming chapters. Both of this teams names and background are still up for debate so any type of ideas you might want to share with me, go ahead and PM me. Of course, you can submit an OC member of one of these two groups.  
**

**4: Gym leaders and E4 members roles are available - check the character list above.  
**

**5: Very important rule, the original adventures of the Dex Holders exist and the story is being told 20 years after those times.**

**6: No OC's via review. I'll only accept chars from PM system! This rules was obviously created to avoid spoiling stuff.**

**7: The new trainers receive their starters according to their final score on the exams. Now you are probably asking _"But CapSpeed, how does that work?"_. So let's see if I can make it clear enough, the score range will be 0-600.**

**The maximum is 600 because that is the final stats of the pseudo-legendary Pokémons, that are now allowed as starter but you would have to ace through school with a perfect score - probably kinda impossible.**

**If your char scored below 330 he/she failed to graduate. _"Why 330?"_ Cuz' that is the total stats of the weakest "fully evolved" Pokémon: Delibird and Luvdisc.**

**Using Colt as an example, he managed to score at least 521 in his exam, considering that his starter was Tyrantrum.  
**

**So considering this and doing your own research on your favorite Pokémon do the math and chose wisely.**

**If you are still having trouble with this rule, please check the following chapters. I think that it'll become clear once you read the story :D**

**8: Regarding the OC sheet, nicknaming your Pokémon isn't obligatory. I know some people don't like to do this and some PM'ed asking if they could send their team without unique names and I accepted. I'm sorry for not being clear.**

* * *

**OC Sheet:  
**

Name:  
Nicknames:  
Gender:  
Sexuality/Love interest:  
Age:  
Star Sign:

**Appearance**

Hair:  
Eyes:  
Build:  
Clothes and Accessories:  
Notable Features:  
Other:

**Personality**

Likes/Dislikes:

Strengths/Weaknesses:  
Favorite Food/Possession/Pokémon/etc:  
Hobbies:  
Dreams:  
Personality:

**Family and related members info:**

Friends:  
Family:  
Childhood:

**Pokémon Related**

Starter:  
Team:  
Box:  
Favored Type:  
Battle Style/Strategy:

**Team**

(M/F) Pokémon - Nickname  
_Attack 1  
Attack 2  
Attack 3  
Attack 4_  
Notes: _is the Pokémon somehow unusual? Maybe a unique personality. How did they catch the Pokémon? Etc_

**History/Back Story:**

If you end up creating a Gym leader, please be descriptive in how did you succeeded to take charge of the original gyms. What differences is there? What type do you specialize in? You know that kinda of stuff. I might PM you for more info.


	2. Prologue

**Hoenn, Neo's POV**

It was another sunny and bright day in the Hoenn region. As always, flocks of Taillow and Wingull flew gently through the calm breeze. Some small mammals like Zigzagoon as well as bug types like Wurmple roamed around the forest areas.

For some, this region was perfect, especially for a good vacation on some random beach. Hoenn was well known for its tropical climate, after all. Some critics say that it has too much water for their liking, which just makes me laugh.

What really bothers me is the hot temperatures. Since I'd lived 15 years in Kanto, I was still not used to this climate.

Nevertheless, Hoenn has been the most pacific region since the fall of Team Magma and Team Aqua and it was without a doubt a good place to live.

I was making my way home, riding the bus back to Oldale Town. I moved to this little town about a year ago, to finish my studies in the prestigious school of Rustboro City.

Not by my own choice, certainly. Kanto was just fine for me; despite not being a famous kid, I managed to survive.

My parents ended up sending me away to live with my aunt. They wanted me to focus on my career, instead of following in their footsteps.

Today, I finally received permission to start my journey. Being able to finish the Poké School with some average grades, I'll be able to choose a good starter Pokémon.

Nowadays it was pretty good for someone to graduate at 16 years old. The exams were pretty tough.

School was now obligatory for every Pokémon Trainer. Some politicians and organizations have been forcing the Pokémon League to change their ways during the past decade.

Sending out kids only 10 years old on a journey full of danger wasn't something that everyone felt happy about.

The League also implemented a rule stating that Trainer needed a back-up plan for their journey and that was why the obligatory studies were implemented.

This topic came about when the number of employed people started falling.

Most of the children were raised hoping for a bright future; putting it more bluntly, everyone wanted to become the Champion or complete the Pokédex by catching them all.

But what happened to those who don't have the skills to do so?

Most of them persisted, continuing to travel throughout the regions trying to achieve their dreams, only to fail harder.

Of course they would still contribute to the economy; everyone needed Poké Balls and medicine to keep their companions healthy. The tradition of giving a sum of money to the winner also kept everything from falling apart.

But things couldn't continue like this. People started to note the flaws in the system: Why was the number of police officers so low? Why weren't there more Pokémon Centers? How come only one big company managed all equipment needed by trainer? Many other questions started to pop up.

This started some protests against the League. Everyone started blaming the system for the events of the past; the rampaging gangs running freely in the past and even some members of high society being involved with them that ended up never being judged by their wrong doings.

Some say that the League supported most of the evil teams' activities so that people would unite against them, instead of focusing their attention in the numerous flaws of the system.

In the past the Elite Four barely did anything to help the original Dex Holders and now all of that has been topic on the news and journals. New crime organizations started to revolt against the League itself.

Anyway, focusing on the main subject; things have changed lately.

People could still go around collecting Badges and challenging the League each year, but now every teenager that graduates and decides to leave on their journey needed a realistic objective for the future. Aiming to join the Police force, training to be a doctor, mastering one type for teaching purposes or not; an infinite of options.

My goal was decided long ago, when I found out that I had a gift for dealing with psychic types. Apparently, I inherited this from my mother; however, she always refused on letting me train under her guidance.

Maybe she was scared that I wasn't as strong as her, or maybe she could tell that I wasn't made for this.

I always felt my self being drawn to these type of Pokémon. I always wanted to find out my true potential as a psychic specialist.

My mother did all she could to prevent me from starting to follow her lifestyle, but being a rebellious young boy I would not do what I was ordered.

I would prove that I could handle it by taking my journey seriously and maybe one day, who knows, I might be able to open my own Gym. Teaching others about this type wouldn't be that bad; maybe people could learn to like psychic Pokémon a little more.

For now, being away and starting my journey in Hoenn was the perfect opportunity for me. I'd be able to choose the starter and career that I wanted, before my mother could do something about it.

She probably already knew that I was on to something, because she can somehow see the future... I was betting that I was going to end up being dragged back to Kanto, as soon as my mother found out the truth. I was now thankful for her busy agenda.

Maybe I could excuse myself for being the son of one of the most infamous rebels in Pokémon history or maybe blame our family genes.

Suddenly, I felt someone pushing me on the shoulder.

I opened my eyes and noticed that the bus had stopped moving. In front of me was the impatient driver with somewhat of an angry glare.

"Hey fella', this is the last stop. Hurry up and leave or you'll be comin' back to Rustboro with me."

Standing up, I faked a yawn and bowed in apology, "Sorry. I felt asleep; thank you, sir!" And with that I left the bus before the man could start lecturing me or even paralyze me with his intense glare.

I thanked Arceus that the last stop was indeed the town where I lived, because this was one of my bad habits - getting lost in my own thoughts.

My teachers always said that I was analytical and that was a good characteristic for a Psychic trainer. I couldn't disagree with that, but maybe I over-think stuff too much.

Moving almost automatically, I arrived at the small apartment where I lived. While removing my shoes I could feel something sneaking up from behind me.

It started moving faster and before I could react I was already being tackled by my aunt's Purugly.

The tiger cat Pokémon seemed to enjoy playing pranks on me since this happened almost every day.

I heard my aunt bursting into laughter after hearing me rant at the damned cat. She also found it funny; on the other hand, I was getting tired of it.

Maybe it was because the female cat always reminded me so much of a dark type or probably because of her eyes- they freaked me out, but I couldn't really like the prankster cat.

Greeting my aunt with a quick peck, I went to the fridge looking for some food, but I was surprised to notice it was almost empty.

"Neo, there are some leftovers on the stove!" my aunt shouted.

I just sighed quietly to myself, wondering about how this woman would survive without my help.

Bringing a dish with me, I took a seat next to my aunt, in the old but comfortable sofa.

I could feel my aunt gazing at me sideways in an awkward manner. She said nothing and just took another sip of her drink.

Knowing that she was even worse than me at expressing herself, I started conversation, "I received the school's permission to go on a journey."

Maybe I sounded way too uncaring or maybe I looked like I wasn't happy, but my aunt grinned at the good news anyway.

"What will you choose?" Sounding more interested, she continued, "Are you starting here in Hoenn?"

I nodded, "I'll specialize in psychic types."

"Haha! I knew it!" My aunt laughed and gave me a look that said that I had just signed my sentence for challenging my mother.

Trying to ignore the sadistic sense of humor of the red haired woman, I turned on the TV and started watching the replay of one specific battle of the semifinals of the Indigo Plateau Conference. This battle recorder option was something else… For me one of the best inventions ever, since I always loved to watch a good fight.

The Pokémon League Conference was a championship hosted annually by the League, in each region, having the goal to find those worthy of taking the Elite Four challenge.

This was something implemented by the League, in order to prevent the huge amount of challengers in wait to face the Elite Four in each region.

In the past, anyone who had collected the 8 gym badges, of one region, automatically had the right to face the Elite Four. Many trainers proved that it wasn't that big of a challenge and, annually a lot of trainers would show up to challenge them, creating a huge mess.

There was a reason for why I was watching this specific battle.

As my aunt's laughter died down, my eyes started focusing on the boy with a spiky blue hair and fiery red eyes dressed in medieval-looking attire, sporting a long cape around his neck.

_"Ladies in gentleman, looks like the red side is running out of options!"_ The commentator said in enthusiastic tone. _"The dragon trainer has been cornered by the icy trainer from Johto and his Charmeleon won't be able to withstand many more attacks from Weavile."_

The crowd started cheering at this statement. Some wanted the dragon specialist to win, others called out for the ice trainer, and some people just watched in silent as the fight reached its final stretch.

_"Indeed. Charmeleon has taken damage from the previous fight against Dewgong and if the red side loses the fire Pokémon, I don't know if he'll be able to stop that weasel."_ A second voice called out in a wiser and more serious manner.

In the screen I watched Charmeleon taking a continuous combination of Night Slashes and Quick Attacks. The lizard Pokémon definitely had a chance to win this, at least in my view.

But it looked like something was missing...

**Indigo Plateau Conference, a week ago, Colt's POV**

I felt my body twitch with excitement. Until today I never had such an intense battle.

Both my opponent and I had only two Pokémon left but by the looks of it my Charmeleon wouldn't stand Weavile's rhythm for much longer.

_"I should have trained longer with Charmeleon."_ I thought to myself.

"Weavile, get closer and end this with your strongest **Ice Punch**." The other trainer said in a firm tone as his Pokémon started getting dangerously close to mine.

Being well aware that Charmeleon's **Blaze** ability had already been activated due to the damage taken, I shouted "Charmeleon, let's wrap this up with a **Flamethrower**! Let Weavile come close enough and shoot it down!"

Dashing towards my Pokémon, Weavile closed the gap in mere seconds and, as I ordered Charmeleon spit out a powerful blast of fire and with that I grinned to myself.

_"That Weavile probably couldn't take this."_ I thought, already counting in my victory. I knew it was a risky move but I had to take it.

Much to my surprise, I suddenly saw a hole pop up on the ground right behind Charmeleon.

"Behind you Char-" Before I could even finish my warning, Charmeleon was already being hit from behind by a powerful **Ice Punch**\- which, despite not being very effective, was still enough to finish him off.

I scoffed at my own mistake and recalled my Pokémon, "I'm sorry Charmeleon. You did well." And with this there went my type advantage. My opponent had just used **Dig** to avoid my fire attack, which was surely smart and proved the lack in experience that I still had.

What were the odds of facing two trainers in this League who specialized in ice and fairy types? Probably very low. Luck wasn't on my side, but this last mistake was entirely my fault.

Reaching my belt, I took the Poké Ball of my starter, hoping that I could still turn this into a victory.

For a second, everything went silent and I couldn't hear the cheers anymore. I was totally focused. I knew this was my last chance.

As I threw my Poké Ball, a large dinosaurian Pokémon popped out. "I'm counting on you Tyrantrum!"

Landing on the floor, my Pokémon stretched his neck and gave a loud roar. _"So much attitude."_ I thought while smirking at the male dinosaur's antics.

Noticing that my Pokémon was also part rock, the other trainer ordered Weavile to keep its distance.

Knowing that Tyrantrum was a slower Pokémon I had to wait and make my opponent make the first move.

"Weavile, bring it down with an **Ice Beam**!" He finally decided to do something, but he was still keeping his Pokémon away from Tyrantrum's physical attacks.

A light blue ball started to form in Weavile's hands, and as soon as he ordered that move my instinct told me what to do next. "Tyrantrum, before it hits you slice it through with **Iron Tail**."

It was a very bold move but knowing that Weavile wasn't a special attacker and iron was effective against ice, I was confident that this time I could make it work.

Seeing the ball of light blue beams moving forward Tyrantrum started twitching his strong legs and when it was close enough, I shouted, "Do it now; **Iron Tail**!"

Turning around in a quick movement, Tyrantrum's tail started glowing white and as I ordered, he cut through Weavile's attack with ease, making the ball of ice disappear in shiny snowflakes.

I sighed in relief, seeing that my decision had worked. In fact, this attack almost looked like something that a trainer would do in a contest to make the other team look bad.

Before I had time to regain composure the other trainer shouted, "Weavile, use **Quick Attack** to get close!"

Watching Weavile's body outlined in a white glow, as it dashed forward Tyrantrum, I was still not sure what their intention was.

_"That Weavile probably knows a fighting move too…"_ That was what I could come up with. Maybe the other trainer was trying to use an attack that could take advantage of my Pokémon's weight.

I wasn't really sure what to do since I didn't know Weavile's moveset that well.

I decided to go on the offensive too. "Tyrantrum, stop them with **Rock Slide**!"

As I watched my Pokémon's body glow, multiple white rings of energy appeared above him. The dinosaur let the power out and sent multiple falling boulders in Weavile's direction.

Not really counting with this, the opposing trainer didn't react fast enough to order the dark weasel to avoid the danger and I was able to land some solids hits before Weavile started using its high speed and agility. It avoided being hit, and at the same time it started to use the rocks to get height and to reach us even faster.

Seeing Weavile already close enough to take a physical hit and knowing that it had taken damage from before, I decided to end this in one hit. "Tyrantrum, shoot it down with **Head Smash**!"

Tyrantrum's body became surrounded by a whitish-blue aura, making it seem black, and he shot forward with his head pointed at the ice type.

As I watched my Pokémon approaching his opponent rapidly, I noticed that the other trainer was still silent, which made me nervous. _"What is he planning?"_

Suddenly, just before Tyrantrum's head slammed against Weavile, the ice specialist shouted, "Weavile, let it hit you and use **Revenge**!"

I exhaled forcibly through my mouth, almost falling into my knees in disgust. I had taken the bait and this match was over for us. There was no way to stop the attack; they were already within an arm's reach.

The impact between the two attacks created a curtain of dust, destroying part of the battle arena.

As soon as the dust had calmed down, I saw Weavile already lying on the floor and my Tyrantrum still struggling to keep his balance.

_"Did I manage to win this?"_ I thought to myself, with some hope left that I could still make it to the finals.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Today wasn't my lucky day. Tyrantrum's legs started twitching in exhaustion and my Pokémon fall flat on the ground, fainting from the damage taken.

To be honest I was expecting a move more ordinary, like Brick Break, which I knew would be super effective but we would probably live through it. But **Revenge** was almost a suicidal attack and that was why I wasn't expecting it.

**Revenge** was an attack that inflicted double the damage if the user had been hurt by the opponent in the same turn.

Moving my hand through my blue hair, trying to calm myself, I called back my starter as I mumbled to myself, "How did this happen? How am I supposed to face mom now?"

And that was it. The end of my first competition as a trainer. Should I be happy for reaching this far? Well, I don't know, but this feeling of bitterness and disappointment just wouldn't go away.

I sighed as I walked away from the arena. People cheered for the new-found finalist behind me.

Certainly I was jealous - maybe because this trainer had more experience than me, but probably because he had the advantage type.

Well, there was nothing I could do now about this battle. I would need to focus on the next League. I was thinking about Johto, but I didn't know how to face my family now that I lost so I would probably head to Hoenn. _"Warm and sunny Hoenn... Yeah sounds like a good place for a fresh start."_

**Hoenn, Oldale Town, Neo's POV**

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, we got ourselves the first finalist! What a great showdown it was!"_ People started clapping and cheering after the battle come to an end and the commentators started analyzing the match.

It was a good match, indeed, but unfortunately my self-proclaimed older brother had made several mistakes, like not training his newly caught Charmeleon and Pupitar, and using those risky moves with his two remaining Pokémons.

I turned off the TV and sighed in a mixture of bitterness. My friend from Kanto did well considering that it was his first time participating in a League, but no matter what I felt it was somewhat unfair for him to fight against someone with more experience, but that was our beloved Pokémon League system.

Colt and I met years ago, back when both of us studied at the same school in Vermillion City. But, being older than me, he left for his journey one year before I did and I was sent to live here in Hoenn, with my aunt and her annoying cat.

We really haven't talked that much since last year. He's been busy on his journey and I've studying to start mine.

"No matter how many times you watch that battle you won't be able to change the outcome, kiddo," my aunt said, teasing me and ruffling my purple hair.

Standing up and heading towards the kitchen, my aunt pointed upstairs and said, "Your father sent you a package with your stuff."

Hearing that made me want to check if everything was in order. I got up and hastily headed upstairs.

Suddenly, my aunt appeared near the doorframe, yelling, "Hey, brat! Your father told me that you might want to get involved in the Dex Holders disappearance story and this new radical group, so... are you going to snoop around that?"

I didn't answer her question; I just froze while looking at her from the top of the stairs. I was about to tell her a lie but I guess I felt too ashamed of doing that and then nothing came out.

I traded a glance with her knowing that lying wasn't going to help me anyway, since she was way more experienced in doing that than I was.

"Mmm, okay, I get it. Just don't end up getting obsessed with the doing the right thing... You know, like your father has become since our father's death..."

This story was indeed difficult. I didn't know what to say. I knew my aunt had noticed my intentions ever since I started to pay more attention to the news, trying to gather more information about the strange phenomena happening all around the world.

"I'll be careful, aunt Mars." That was all I could manage to say. At least I thought I said it with a convincing face.

My aunt shook her head disapprovingly, but decided not to add anything else. Our interactions were always like this, somewhat odd and messy, but that was probably a characteristic that most of my family had.

I decided to let this topic die as well. I made my way to my bedroom and found a huge package with my name on it.

As I started looking at the contents of it, the talk with my aunt started to affect me and I began recalling some of the discussions I'd had with my father, whenever he was home.

Like this one when he once told me about my grandfather. He said that unlike us, he was pretty confident in himself. He was surely one of the most well-known villains in Kanto and Johto, and he used to call himself the Strongest Trainer.

This were just one of the million stories and rumors about my family.

I had to put up with this my whole life. My reputation in Kanto was shitty and I guess that was why I ended up growing somewhat cold and self-centered.

Well, those were just the perks of having almost all your family members associated with a criminal organization. Despite the fact that most of them were stopped decades ago, the stories of their wrongdoings still haunts the history of the Pokémon world.

My aunt, for example, was eventually released from jail but also exiled from Sinnoh, and the only regions that would accept her were Hoenn and Kalos.

Thank Arceus she chose Hoenn. Otherwise, I would have been sent to the other side of the world just to stay away from my father's work.

After checking that I had everything that I asked for, my mind started to focus on something that has been killing me: what happened to my father's friends?

If I could answer this and get them back, I could finally give my family some peace and maybe our household would become stable again.

I threw myself into my bed, sighing in annoyance. Tomorrow was my big day, and here I was getting all worried about this stuff. _"I'll end up like him."_

Soon after, I felt asleep thinking about what Pokémon to choose and what to do in the upcoming days.


	3. Fresh Starts

**Hoenn, Oldale Town, Neo's POV**

Finally, today I was getting my starter Pokémon. Finally, I would leave my studies behind and start focusing on my Trainer career.

Should I feel happy or excited like the others? Well, I really wasn't feeling like that.

In fact, I was more worried and agitated than normal. I had too many doubts and unanswered questions that kept me from enjoying the moment.

Last night, I was able to finally decide what Pokémon I was going to pick.

At the beginning, I was inclined to pick an Abra, but seeing that I had so many other options, I decided not to choose this Pokémon. I was trying to avoid copying my mother's steps. It was somewhat ironic that I was worrying about this matter, knowing that I had already disrespected mother's orders.

Starting my journey in Hoenn and knowing that my best friend would end up being my main rival, today I would choose Ralts as my starter.

Despite not being that interested in Pokémon battles, I was betting that Colt wasn't going to leave me alone until we had a serious match.

That was my "big brother". A guy that loved challenging people while aiming to surpass his father and become the best dragon specialist.

* * *

I finally decided to get up from my bed. I had been sitting on it for a long time. Probably for more than five hours.

Last night I wasn't able to sleep. Maybe, I was able to close my eyes and rest for a couple of hours, but my brain kept me awake, thinking about one million random topics.

Looking in the mirror, I noticed that had huge dark circles under my red eyes. My pale skin wasn't really helping either.

"I look awful." I said to myself. Anyways, I really didn't care about that type of stuff.

If I was back in Kanto, then I would actually need to be worried about my appearance.

My reputation was already bad, but if people were to see me like this, I would probably be accused of consuming drugs or spending the night with my mobster friends.

That was how bad my social life was back in Kanto. Being Giovanni's grandson granted me these types of perks; being feared and hated by feats that weren't mine.

Stopping those unwanted thoughts, I focused on the main issue. I still needed to get ready to visit my school in Rustboro one last time.

The fact that I could finally tie my unruly long hair was probably the one thing that was making me truly happy. My purplish hair grew faster than an Arcanine's mane and keeping it short was almost impossible for me, so I gave up on trying to tame it.

The fact that I had to keep it untied during school was a pain for me. Apparently, ponytails were something that only girls could wear, according to the school's rules.

Didn't make sense. If they had a hair like mine, I bet their opinion would change in seconds.

Colt also agreed with this. Normally he would joke about how girly I looked, trying to get a reaction from me. I would always ended up teasing him about how he looked like a villain while using his amazing cape.

My father would always laugh at my situation as well. He kept telling me to get a Pokémon like his Weavile.

Then, he would always tell me his old stories of when he was training in the wild and had to ask his Weavile to cut his hair with its sharp claws.

This story was really awkward for me. I would always picture my father swinging from vine to vine and living like a wild animal instead of running his company in his fancy suit.

* * *

Shaking off this mental image of my father, I quickly dressed my white jeans and picked out my black jersey jacket from inside my closet.

From inside the box that I received yesterday, I removed my belt (made specifically to hold Poké Balls) and a purple Xtransceiver.

Beneath all the essentials for my journey, there was a small plastic bag that I hadn't seen last night. Inside the bag were a purple scarf and a small handwritten letter.

Opening it carefully, I started reading it, _"Hello, Neo. Knowing that your journey will soon start, your grandmother decided to send you something as a good luck charm. I made it purple, noticing that you weren't a redhead like us. In fact, you look like a perfect mixture of your parents. Your red eyes show how serious and mature you are, but I also heard that you inherited the rebellious personality of your father. I hope that one day you can forgive your grandparents and I'll be waiting for your visit. With love, Ariana."_

Well, that was unexpected. After reading this I froze for a couple of seconds, not knowing how to react. What was I supposed to feel after reading this? Happy, maybe angered or disgusted? But I only managed to smile softly.

I didn't know why, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. It wasn't a happy smile. In fact I think it was more like a sad one, a mixture of good and bad feelings.

_"I've already forgiven you. Maybe I'll visit you one day."_ I thought to myself, while putting the letter on my desk.

I wrapped the scarf around my neck - it was a gift, after all. I couldn't possibly be rude and just throw it aside, right?

Noticing that the next bus would leave soon, I grabbed my messenger bag and headed down stairs in a rush, quickly saying goodbye to my aunt.

Just before leaving, I shouted saying that I would still come home at least for today. I knew that I had to train and get to know Ralts first.

* * *

**Oliver's POV**

Sighing in annoyance, I decided to off the TV. "I've already seen this movie," I mumbled to myself as I looked out the window.

The sky looked beautiful from up here, but how could a trip take this long?

I was getting seriously bored. I had lost sense of the time that had passed since I entered this airplane.

Checking the silver watch that my grandfather gave me, I noticed that only a couple of hours had passed since I left Kalos.

According to the flight ticket, the trip to Hoenn would take at least three more hours.

For a second my attention focused on the image embedded on my watch.

A green serpent, the ruler of the skies, Rayquaza. _"If I get lucky I might see one in Hoenn,"_ I thought to myself, hoping that my journey would pay off.

Unfortunately for me, I would probably end my career without being able to find any legendary Pokémon.

No one has been able find Pokémon like Rayquaza, ever since the disasters that occurred decades ago.

All the legendary Pokémon became myths. People say that they left Earth because there were people here fool enough to try and use them for their own gain.

Critics also blamed the League for letting the villainous teams do as they pleased, back in the past. On multiple occasions they used the Legendaries' powers to cause destruction.

Believers said that the Gods had left Earth. They now lived on their own dimensions.

This theory was actually plausible. Everyone knew that Giratina lived on its own dimension.

This was a good way to explain their disappearance. They were the most powerful beings, after all. If they were the supposed creators of all life as we knew it, something like creating another dimensions would be easy for them.

* * *

Anyway, I was dying to get there. I heard that there were some amazing Mega Evolutions in Hoenn and some rare Pokémon, which I had never seen in my two-year journey in Kalos.

For me, being able to learn more about this type of evolution would help me a lot in my competitive battling research. This region would be helpful in my quest for completing my Pokédex, too.

Hopefully this time I would do better in the League's conference. I was able to reach the finals in Kalos, but I lost and it was pretty unpleasant.

My Pokémon were swept away by that trainer wearing a red cap. If Red wasn't missing, along with some other known trainers, I would say that it was him who battled against me that day.

Well, at least I was able to take down half of his team, and I had learned my lesson since then. Back in that tournament I was overconfident in my skills and when battling a stronger trainer I froze.

That battle made me realize that I still needed to work to achieve my dreams.

All of those reasons made me decide to make a journey through Hoenn.

Trying to find a comfortable position for my numb legs, I took out my music player and pressed play. Adjusting my blue and black headphones, I tried to relax and get some sleep.

It felt like this long trip was just about to start.

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Erina's POV**

Two days after my arrival in Rustboro City, I was now sitting peacefully on a bench, near a small park enjoying a mystery book that I had just bought.

Near me, leaning against a tree, was my Zangoose, Fang, who was enjoying the rays of sun of his home region.

Choosing Hoenn seemed to be a good option and Fang seemed to agree. That was why we ended up here.

However, this region might be too peaceful for the goal I was trying to achieve.

I wanted to become a private investigator, along with my childhood friend Bei, who also started a journey this same year. We decided to train individually, promising each other to meet again once he got stronger.

Unlike my family, who always showed interest in scientific professions, I felt attracted to the mysteries behind crimes. Since I was young, I knew that this was the right path to follow.

Despite knowing what I wanted to become, I was still not sure how to achieve it. I could have enlisted in the Police Academy and aim to become a detective, working directly for the League.

But I immediately rejected this option, seeing that I would need to go through some intensive training as a police officer before starting to work as a detective.

Helping people and solving crimes with my partner Fang was a dream that I hoped one day to achieve.

Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I noticed two ladies coming in my direction. They seemed somewhat agitated and they were whispering to each other.

Closing my book, I immediately focused my attention on the two women, trying to hear what they were saying.

As soon as they were a couple of meters away, I was able to hear some parts of their conversation. "Have you heard about the robberies that happened in Route 116?" The other woman shook her head and her friend continued, "Apparently, there were two cases of people falling asleep and losing all their valuables. The robber is attacking people who travel alone."

The two friends continued walking, passing through me as they kept up their conversation.

This was strange. I was sure that I read all the recent newspapers and there was no mention of those two thefts.

Was the local police hiding information to the citizens? Perhaps the rumors about the League hiding things and turning a blind eye to crime were true.

Picking up my bag, I went to Fang and said, "You heard that, buddy? We got a case to solve!" The Zangoose opened his eyes lazily and started smirking at me.

It was show time for us. Helping Fang get up, we left the park and went straight towards the eastern part of Rustboro City.

* * *

**Colt's POV**

One week has passed since that disaster at the Indigo Plateau Conference.

Right now I was on a ship headed to Littleroot Town.

After failing to win my first League Conference, I decided to travel throughout Hoenn before heading home to face the fury of my mother.

I was finally going to see Neo as well. I hadn't talked to him for a long time now.

Deep down, I was feeling ashamed for not contacting him more frequently, but my journey had kept me busy. Besides, right now my pride kept me from calling him.

Knowing that guy, I bet that he had studied my battle a couple of times to see where I had failed.

I knew he wasn't going to judge or criticize me, but I also knew he wouldn't express his opinion unless I asked him to. He was always quiet and moderated in everything he did.

Deep down, I was still feeling ashamed for knowing that he saw me fail like that.

Since I was young, he would always come to my fighting classes to watch and learn more about Pokémon. It wasn't like he was there because he enjoyed the battles.

In fact, I always thought that he was doing it because he enjoyed analyzing the other students, almost like he was trying to guess what they were thinking.

That was how I met him back in Vermilion. He was the lonely guy, who was always daydreaming or stuck on his own thoughts.

* * *

Suddenly, a loud I heard a loud noise, coming from outside my cabin. Exiting my room and looking towards the horizon, I noticed that we had almost reached the port.

Checking my blue Xtransceiver and noticing that I finally had a signal, I decided to call Neo.

After a few seconds of beeping, he answered the call. A hologram image of him popped up and I started to hear some background noises.

"You finally called," he said with his serious expression, but knowing him I took it as a joke.

"Yeah, buddy, I'm sorry!" I apologized, trying to make sure that he wouldn't resent me, despite knowing that he wasn't the type of guy who cared about things like this. "Where are you right now? I hear a motor sound but the image is too dark." I asked him, trying to figure out what he was up to.

"I'm on the bus right now. I'm going to pick my starter in Rustboro City."

I nodded. Now that weird background noise made sense. "It's been a year already hmm?" I asked, feeling kind of nostalgic, remembering the day that I had started my journey. He simply nodded. I was expecting him to be happier, knowing that he was starting his journey, but oh well, I guess this was his normal attitude.

"Where are you? I can hear seagulls. Are you on a boat to Johto?"

Hearing this I gave him a nervous smirk and showed where I was, pointing my Xtransceiver towards the port. "Ooh! That's the Littleroot Town harbor. I can assume that you're trying to run away from your mother, right?" He asked me, cracking an ironic smile.

"Yes, that's right! And I bet that from now on you'll be hiding from yours as well."

He nodded before adding, "I bet she already knows." Hearing this I could only sympathize with him.

His mother was always strict about his education and back in Kanto, she would never let him near a psychic Pokémon. That was like torture for the poor guy, knowing that he inherited that passion from the same person who was holding him back.

"So you'll be in Rustboro... Hmm maybe we can meet there? I'll use Gyarados to get there and we'll meet before I start my journey. Sound good?"

He started to touch his screen and after checking the time said, "I'll probably be ready in one hour." I nodded, knowing that it would probably take me half an hour to get there.

Hearing the sound of the engine stop, Neo got up, started walking and said, "I'm going into the school now. Bye."

"Okay bro, see you in an hour." I hung up the call and started chuckling to myself.

_"He hasn't changed at all."_ I thought. Neo was still awkward and awfully serious when interacting with people.

Removing Gyarados's Poké Ball from my belt, I whispered to it, "Girl, I'm going to need your help in a few minutes. Behave, okay?" I knew that as soon as I would call her out she would want to snuggle and wrap me in her strong hugs.

For those who said that Gyarados were intimidating and had destructive power, especially when enraged, I couldn't deny it.

However, my blue serpent was the most affectionate and docile Pokémon that I had. Of course, only outside of battles.

I sighed, preparing to get my back crushed in a few minutes.

The boat started to slow down. "I'm finally here!" I shouted enthusiastically. I really needed a new start and knowing that this region had some amazing dragon species made me feel excited.

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Neo's POV**

Finally entering my school, I headed towards the classroom that my teacher had indicated yesterday, stepping in and taking a seat silently.

Looking around, I noticed that there weren't that many people inside the classroom. Around ten others teenagers were patiently waited to pick their starter.

The system ordered the fresh graduates by their score and the students with the best grades would get their starter first. It was a matter of days. After being called, the new trainers had one week to pick their starter. If they ended up not appearing, they would have to take their exams again next year.

Of course, this was only to maintain a certain level of order and to make sure that requests wouldn't overload the trading system.

Scoring 525 in my exams, I barely made it into this first day. There were some amazing grades in this school, especially of those who wanted to become doctors or obtain stronger Pokémon.

* * *

After waiting a few minutes, it was finally my turn. I heard my name being called and rushed towards my teachers.

Seated in front of a wood desk there was my archeology teacher, Roxanne, and Wally, our battling mentor.

The brown haired woman was wearing a formal blue dress with a red tie. Comparing her appearance to the different pictures of her on the school halls, it was evident that the woman's sense of style hadn't changed that much.

She was one of the founders of the school.

Wally, the best friend and rival of Brendan and May, the well-known trio of Hoenn, was now in charge of teaching our students some basics about battling.

After retiring from Pokémon battling, Wally decided to dedicate his career in studying the Mega Evolutions while aiming to complete the Pokédex.

I envied the man with the scruffy green hair. He had this powerful Gallade that could Mega Evolve. A powerful psychic Pokémon.

In fact, right now the famous trainer was wearing his Mega Necklace.

It seemed to be made of wood and it was shaped to look like his Gallade's head. I got lost in my thoughts, maybe staring too long for his Mega Stone.

Finally looking away from the paperwork, Roxanne glanced at me and said, "Hello, Neodymium."

I almost choked hearing my teacher calling me this. It wasn't the first time that this happened, and she seemed to like teasing me about my name's origin. "Very funny, Teacher. It's Neo," I corrected her.

She started chuckling. "I'm sorry, Neo, as a rock type lover I couldn't hold in the joke. So, are you ready to pick your Pokémon?" the brown haired woman said, trying to compose herself.

"Don't tease him too much. His name was probably chosen by his godfather, Ethan. Our group was always using nicknames based on precious stones, metals or even colors." Wally explained, gentle as ever.

At least someone understood my situation.

Despite looking calm and collected, I noticed that Wally's expression change when he mentioned Ethan's name and their old group. It was evident for me that he also felt responsible for not knowing what happened to them.

Trying to maintain his cool, Wally kept using the PC in front of him before finally speakin again, "Do you want to see the Pokémon available for you?" He said, pointing at his monitor.

Looking at it, I quickly deduced that it was a software connected to the Day Care system.

Nowadays, there were a great number of Pokémon Breeders who focused on raising and mating selected species, with the goal of obtaining improvements on future generations of Pokémon, such as specific moves, natures or a rare coloration.

Due to this, the Box system started to get full. The Pokémon Day Cares all around the world started to get full of unwanted Pokémon that needed to be dispatched somewhere else.

Not finding a good way to dispose of this problem, the League decided to hand the unwanted Pokémon, left in the Day Cares, to new trainers.

A couple of years after, this new ranking and starter system was created, correcting the flaws found by the critics.

Finally breaking my line of thought, I nodded and said, "No. I'll choose a Ralts."

Stopping what he was doing, Wally chuckled hearing my answer. "Very good choice. Ahh! I still remember when I first caught my Ralts. Good times."

With a nostalgic glint on his eyes, my old mentor started to fill the online data that was needed to order my starter.

"Are you sure you want to choose a Ralts, Neo? It's one of the weakest Pokémon on its first stage. We had some trouble with people wanting refunds... I'm just trying to warn you," Roxanne said, trying to warn me gently that they wouldn't be responsible for my mistakes.

I bowed politely. "Thank you for your concern Ms. Roxanne, but this is my choice. I know that Ralts will become a strong psychic type when it evolves. I'll just need to train seriously."

"I like your attitude. Too bad I'm not Rustboro Gym leader anymore. I would like to battle with you." Roxanne said, seeming happy to see that I was ready to face any type of adversity.

"Your request is almost complete. There is a good amount of Ralts available for starters. Lucky you." Wally commented. "Do you have a gender preference?"

I thought about his question before answering. "Yes, I do. I'd prefer a female Ralts. I don't want to force a male Ralts to evolve into Gardevoir just because it's more convenient for me."

I thought this was the best option to take. Yes, I was being egoistic, but at least I wouldn't need to force my Pokémon to choose between two forms of evolutions. I really wanted Ralts to keep its fairy type. I needed something to counter Colt's dragons.

Wally nodded in agreement with what I said. "Yeah, that's very admirable. Luckily for me, Gallade and I were able to agree on his evolution form." Finally finishing his work on the PC, Wally got up and said, "It's done. The Poké Ball has probably arrived. Follow me."

* * *

I tailed Wally into a room fully equipped with various electronic devices, where a lonely Poké Ball sat glowing in one of the trading machines. "It's your Pokémon. Go ahead."

As ordered, I went and picked up my Pokémon. I was dying to meet Ralts, but unfortunately that would have to wait until I left the school.

No Pokémon were allowed to roam freely inside school perimeters. Annoying rules.

Attaching the Poké Ball to my belt, I was about to bid farewell to Wally when he handed me a small paper card. "Take my number. If your father finds out about the others let me know, please." The grown man almost begged, making me feel uncomfortable.

I knew he was probably suffering for not knowing anything about Brendan and May. They were among the trainers who disappeared. Wally was always quiet and did stuff on his own terms back in the day, according to what my father told me, so I was betting that they weren't really that close.

"I'll tell you if something comes up, Wally. Goodbye. Tell Ms. Roxanne that one day I'll be taking that challenge she proposed."

Waving back at the green haired man, I dashed towards the exit. Enough of studies and books for now.

In this moment I just wanted to meet my starter and catch up with my friend.

* * *

**Kanto, Saffron City, Normal POV**

Seated in front of his desk, Silver was checking a huge amount of paperwork.

The red haired man, in his late thirties, had a tired look on his face. However, the caffeine was keeping him awake.

There was no time for him to rest. Not now. Not until he found out what happened.

"Those damned freaks with their revolutionary ideas!" He cursed through his teeth, folding a paper and throwing it against the nearest wall in despair.

Suddenly, someone opened his office door, without asking for permission, and rushed towards him.

The one who did so was a green haired man, dressed formally in a black suit.

"Bad news again, Proton?" Silver assumed, looking at his employee's agitated expression. Holding his head with his palms, Silver tried to stay calm and rational, waiting impatiently to receive the bad news.

"Depends on how you see it, Boss. Our radar detected some type of energy similar to that one, years ago..." The man said vaguely, trying not to bring bad memories. He knew how Silver reacted when talking about this topic.

Picking up the pages that Proton brought with him, Silver analyzed the satellite images quickly and noticed that there were some space-time rifts phenomena appearing above Hoenn.

"This must be their doing! They are still after the Legendary Pokémon." This news seemed to wake him, somehow. His red eyes glowed with hope. This was his chance to find an answer.

Maybe he would be able to bring them back.

"Send a team to investigate the site!" Silver ordered. Proton nodded and started to walk towards the exit.

Just before leaving, his employee said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, sir. The young Boss has started his journey today and chose a psychic type. He already appeared on our data as a trainer. I'll send someone to check his safety."

Silver chuckled and said, "His mother will scold him so badly, once she sees him. And haven't I told you to stop calling us Boss?"

The green haired smiled in a goofy way, saying that it was already a habit to treat Silver that way.

When Proton was released from prison, Silver decided to give him a chance to redeem himself. Since then, Proton had sworn his loyalty to Silver and his new boss came to replace the old mentors that he once followed in Team Rocket.

Despite small and slow changes, there were always traits that would remain the same.


	4. Reunion

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's the 2nd chapter of the story. **

**As always, thank you for your support on the story and I'm very grateful to everyone who has lost some of their time to create an OC char.  
**

**A special thanks to KomoriRin, my buddy :D  
**

**The first two chapters have been re-uploaded, with some minor changes.  
**

**Unfortunately, I'm also quite disappointed since until now we still only have one Gym Leader!  
**

**Deciding to restrict my creative urges and knowing that this is a SYOC story, I promised myself to only create one OC - Neo. This means that, I'll have to stall the story until we get more characters - Gym Leaders *cough *cough  
Now, I understand that this role is probably not very interesting for you guys, but that's not true at all. Based on you ideas the leaders can be really important chars just like in the Manga/Game/Anime.  
**

**I'm still looking for antagonists as well, but this one might be trickier and if you are interested in creating one PM and I'll gladly help you.  
**

**So, may I ask some of your time to create a char for the story? :3  
As always, I hope you enjoy. **

* * *

**Hoenn, Mossdeep City, Lyon's POV**

It was early in the morning, but I was already up and ready to leave home.

I should stay home today, knowing that I only returned to Mossdeep on the weekends, but right now I was excited to visit my old school, one last time, in order to get my starter.

I felt bad for not spending more time with my mother before leaving on my journey, but my friends had invited me to stay with them in local Center and there was a limited number of boats headed to the city.

"Lyon, don't waste too much time ogling yourself in the mirror; you'll lose the boat!" Elaine, my mother, hit the bullseye.

Hearing this made my checks turn the same color of my hair, a dark shade of red, "I'm not looking in the mirror, mom! I'm just getting ready!" Well, that was a half-lie.

I was indeed getting ready, but I was also having a hard time trying to decide what to wear. I needed to look cool, especially when facing the Gyms.

Looking at my options, I immediately picked up my favorite black cargo shorts. Knowing that I would wear them, I grabbed my matching short black boots.

I chose to wear a white button-down shirt and of course I finished my look with my red leather jacket.

Looking myself one last time in the mirror, I liked how this outfit looked. I quickly styled my spiked fringe and put a new band-aid on the cut on my face.

Now I was ready. I had packed my bag last night and it was already by the door, along with my ticket.

Exiting my room without looking back, I headed towards the entrance hall ready to bid farewell to my mother.

When I looked at her I noticed that her eyes were about to burst into tears. I sighed and tried to calm her, "C'mon mom! Don't look at me like that. I'll feel guilty leaving you behind, crying..."

"O-Oh, I'm sorry Lyon! You look so grown up that I couldn't hold back a mother's tears." She adjusted my jacket and embraced me in a hug.

Clearing her throat and wiping her face, she said, "Go, Lyon! You'll lose the boat at this rate. Please be careful and don't pick fights with everyone!" She scolded me right before my departing. Wow.

"Yes, mom! I'm not like that, you know?!" I said, trying to convince myself that I wasn't a hotheaded person.

Kissing my mother on the cheek, I grabbed my bag and exited my house. Tomorrow I would receive my starter.

What a great feeling! Too bad I'd to wait one more day than that psychic moron.

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Normal POV**

The sunrays enlightened the tropical region of Hoenn. Today, many teenagers from all around the world started their journeys.

Within a week, all the graduates would receive their starter, and another year of tough challenges awaited them.

This was no different for Neo. He had just received his own Pokémon, after having a hard time picking.

Normally, he wouldn't bother that much with this type of thing, but he didn't want to start off on the wrong foot.

After a fierce battle with his inner self, he was able to finally overcome his insecure thoughts. The purple haired boy was able to pick his starter with no regrets.

Right now, he was leaving his school; or rather, his former school.

He started to walk faster. There was someone waiting for him and he was already late. He hated when that happened.

A couple of meters in front of the Rustboro Pokémon School a teen with spiky blue hair was gazing at the view while finishing his ice cream.

When he saw him, Neo sighed in contentment. His friend hadn't changed much since the last time they saw each other, especially his carefree attitude.

Neo noticed that his friend was still dressed in a rather simple way. He was wearing a red shirt and black jeans, along with his favorite red sneakers.

Now getting closer to his friend, Neo noticed that Colt looked a little stockier and he definitely had grown a bit.

This would only add to their differences even more. Colt was rather muscular and tall, while Neo was shorter and somewhat skinny.

Their disparity wasn't only on physical terms. Their personalities were totally different as well.

Colt acted mostly on his instincts while his friend was always over thinking every little detail.

Colt was like the sun, emitting confidence and beaming with joy, while Neo resembled the moon. He was a lot more calm and cold, always enjoying watching the world from his own point of view. They had many differences, but they still got along just fine.

Getting closer to his friend, Neo said, "It's been a while, stranger."

Turning around to face his friend, Colt couldn't help but laugh at his mannerisms.

One year has passed and Neo was still uncomfortable with talking to people.

"Hey, Neo! Yeah, you're right! It's been awhile!" Colt said, extending his hand to greet his friend. Neo shook his hand and they both looked at each other without knowing how to break the ice.

"Just to be clear, I think you did well in Kanto, despite losing in that match." Neo said firmly, without a trace of hesitation.

It was the truth. He really thought his friend had done well. Of course, he had made some mistakes, but that was his first competition.

"Haha! You're always going easy on me, kiddo!" Colt knew that he wouldn't lie to him, but if Colt had been a stranger, Neo would be even blunter with his words.

Neo knew that the two of them had their own ways of thinking and, to be honest, he couldn't really understand how Colt always did so well, without thinking about his actions.

Colt had thought the same. In the end, they had an argument and they ended up deciding not to judge each other's methods.

Looking once more to the view, Colt said, "Well, this region is definitely different. You can see the ocean wherever you are and it looks way more alive than the Kanto did."

"Yeah, it's not that bad. You have a lot of beaches, water and terribly hot temperatures." Neo said while faking heatstroke.

"Hmm, so that's the Devon Corporation," Colt concluded when he looked at the huge stone building in the northern section of town. It was clearly visible from any point in this city, due to its size.

"Yeah, it's run by the ex-champion Steven Stone. They work specially on fossil revival and research associated with Mega Evolution."

Of course, Colt knew about Steven. In fact, he would love to have a battle with him, but unfortunately that would be almost impossible.

"So, you already picked your Pokémon, right?"

Neo nodded.

"So, which psychic type did you choose?" Colt asked once again, with curiosity.

"I chose a Ralts," Neo said bluntly. At his answer, Colt gasped and stared at him for a while before opening his mouth again.

"R-Really? Sneaky bastard, hahaha!" After recovering from the shock, Colt actually found the situation rather funny and started to laugh.

After regaining composure, Colt said, "You did that to counter me, didn't you?" Before letting Neo answer he continued, "I bet you even chose a female because of the fairy type advantage!"

Neo stared at him with an annoyed expression. He was hitting him on the back in a friendly way, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Yes, that was my idea." Neo admitted.

"I knew it!" Colt said proudly, "You always said that you weren't interested in Pokémon battles, but I'll change your mind, bro."

At this comment, Neo flinched. It has been awhile since he heard Colt call him brother and he had forgotten how affectionate and frank the other boy could be, always treating Neo like family.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Neo said half-jokingly, knowing that he wouldn't leave him alone with this matter.

"Now that you're free, let's check out that enormous water park that I saw. I think it's a couple of blocks to the right side of the Devon Corp-"

"You mean the Rustboro Gym?" Neo interrupted his friend's speech.

"That's the city Gym?" Colt asked, surprised. "I thought it was just a normal amusement park or something."

Neo shook his head, "After the reform of the Gym leaders' rules, and when Roxanne stepped down and decided to start teaching full time, there were no rock type trainers interested in taking her position."

"The vacancy was then taken by a water specialist who rebuild the Gym with the League's help. Of course this was in all of their interests."

"Ohh, those greedy bastards!" Colt scoffed at this piece of information. "So they build this to attract more people to the town?"

"Yes. Being in region where people love to spend their vacations, this would attract more income than an old museum."

Colt nodded in agreement. It made sense for them to make a decision like this.

Right now, Rustboro was one of the most important cities in the region. Here, they had the Devon Corp, one of the most famous companies in the world, and a prestigious school for trainers.

"Anyway, I've got an idea! Let's check it out, right now!" Colt shouted excitedly.

Neo frowned when he heard this. This didn't sound good for him; he was betting that Colt was going to challenge the Gym on his first day.

Sighing in exasperation, Neo started to follow his friend who was now whistling in high spirits.

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Neo's POV**

Nearing the water park entrance, I noticed that Colt was looking around with an amazed look on his face.

"Look at the size of that slide, Neo!" He shouted at me, acting like a child at the water park for the first time.

This park really was something else, though. It had two outdoor swimming pools that connected with the water slides.

Speaking of the water slides, they had two types of these attractions available. The yellow one was the normal body slide that could also be ridden by two people inside of a small raft.

In the distance, covering almost the entire park and having some crazy loops, was the other slide. I tested it firsthand, thanks to my aunt.

There was also a multi-lane racer, where a total of eight people could dive headfirst onto a mat and down a slide with several dips. This attraction was famous among the groups of students that came here to challenge each other and have fun.

But the most important part of this amusement park was the building with an orange roof, right in the center. A small forest of palm trees and other tropical plants surrounded the building.

It was the Rustboro Gym. A place where trainers could challenge the Gym Leader of this town, in order to get their badge.

The path that connected to its entrance was somewhat sandy, creating the feeling that we were walking on a beach.

Actually, I bet we could walk barefooted anywhere here, since the park was filled with synthetic grass.

Colt was still gaping at everything. From his reaction, I could picture him coming here with his family in a few years. The perfect example of tourists that the League aimed to attract.

"C'mon, Neo! Let's check out the Gym. I want to challenge it, right now!" Colt said excitedly, dashing towards the building.

_"Well, that was expected."_ I thought to myself, trying to keep up with the rhythm of my friend's legs.

Ignoring all of the attractions and distractions that we passed, Colt rushed towards the Gym.

* * *

The automatic doors opened and we noticed that the entrance hall was silent, as if the Gym was empty.

"Hello~?" Colt shouted once he reached the counter.

He looked at me, confused, and I just shrugged, "Wait a few minutes, maybe they're performing a water show or something."

A few seconds later, a small, slim girl appeared in the door frame and came running to greet us.

"Hey! I'm sorry, I was dealing with some paperwork and I didn't heard the door opening." The brown-haired girl said apologetically, bowing in shame.

Looking at the girl once again, I noticed that she was probably older than me despite looking so tiny and thin.

Her brown hair reached a little down her neck and the tips were painted green. She was wearing a white dress, knee length, which hung off one shoulder.

On her waist there was a black belt with small pockets, which I assumed to be where she stored her Pokémon.

She was also wearing black boots that reached a little above her ankles.

"There's no need to apologize, right Neo?" Colt said awkwardly, trying to get her to stop.

"Yeah, that's right," I said stoically.

"So, are you the Gym leader?" Colt asked without losing another minute.

Judging by her previous attitude, I had assumed that she wasn't the Gym leader. She was also acting somewhat uncomfortable, but it seemed like Colt was too excited to notice that.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. The Gym Leader was called out by the League, just like the other leaders. I'm merely an apprentice." She said, once again with an uncomfortable look on her face.

She was probably afraid that Colt was here to challenge the Gym.

"Ahh, that's lame. So, I guess I can't fight the Gym leader today, right?" Colt said, downhearted and knowing that he couldn't have his first challenge.

"No, they probably won't be back before nightfall. However, I have the Gym leader's permission to accept challenges from trainers that started their journey today."

I narrowed my eyebrows when I heard this. Well, the Gym leader must be very open-minded to allow an apprentice to fight challengers.

I bet no one was expecting a new trainer to head straight to the Gym after receiving his starter.

"Well, unfortunately I'm not a new trainer." Colt said, showing the girl his trainer card on the Xtransceiver.

"Ah! You're from Kanto, C-Colt." The girl concluded after reading his card. "Yeah, unfortunately I can't really give you the challenge that you are looking for. I just started aiming to be a type specialist a couple of months ago."

"Yeah, don't worry! I'll come back here again." My friend said, now looking somewhat happier than before. This doesn't looked good at all.

He stared at me and gave me a wink, "What's your name, you haven't introduced yourself."

"S-Sorry! I'm Korianne Smith, it's a pleasure to meet you guys!" She said embarrassed for not introducing herself earlier, she was the one in charge of the Gym now.

I couldn't help but smirk at her personality. I quickly deduced that this girl just like me was somewhat shy around other people and she was also a bit clumsy.

"Unfortunately for me Korianne I can't fight you, but my friend over there just started his journey today..." He said, while pointing at me. I was standing a couple of meters behind them watching the whole scene.

When I heard this I was about to knock some sense into Colt's head, but he continued talking, "Why don't you fight him? He's aiming to be a psychic specialist so it would be a good experience for both of you." He said with a smirk on his face.

Hearing this the brown haired suddenly started to pay attention to me. _"Ah! Damn you Colt!"_ I cursed my friend in my head.

The small teen approached me and greeted with a handshake, "I'm not very experienced in fighting, but I'd happy to accept your challenge and I promise to give all I got! Does that sounds good…?" Korianne said with a serious expression.

Her hazel eyes showed strong determination. For a second, I froze. Her mettle was evident from me on that moment and I felt drawn to accept the challenge immediately.

She was still staring at me, waiting for my introduction and answer to her challenge. Being able to think clearly, I just saw the mistake that I was about to make.

I almost accepted to battle her despite not having no experience in real situations like this. I would probably end up losing. There was no way I could beat her without thinking about a plan first.

Finally mustering the strength to answer, I decided to introduce myself and put an end to this mistake, "I'm Neo. Well, I just started today so I think that battling is not-"

Suddenly, I got interrupted by Colt appearing at my side and putting his arm on my shoulders, taking control over the conversation. "Neo will accept your offer, right?" Colt glared at me, trying to convince me.

I glared back at him, trying to tell him that this wasn't a good idea. I wasn't prepared. Despite the fact that she was a beginner like me, she still had the upper hand.

"Huh? Guys, could you stop your eye-conversation? I'm feeling left out here," Korianne scolded us and we immediately stopped our glare contest.

I sighed in defeat, "Ok, I'll battle you. Give me just a second to talk with my Pokémon." Knowing that there was no turning back now and not wanting to look bad in front of my friend and this fellow specialist, I accepted the challenge.

When I finally gave in, Colt sent me a triumphant smile, proud of being able to influence me into accepting this Gym battle.

I really couldn't care less for the Gym badge or the fact that this would help me enroll in to Hoenn's conference.

I was never a fan of battling, but if this would help Ralts and I get stronger, then I would gladly accept her offer. I probably was feeling bad for wanting to turn her down.

Stepping away from them, I released Ralts and decided to introduce myself. "Hey Ralts, I'll be your trainer from now on. I hope that we can be friends and, starting today, I'll be counting on your strength to help me grow as a trainer."

My introduction didn't seem to go the way I had planned. Maybe I sounded a bit too cold.

I felt like I had just started off on the wrong foot. Ralts was known as the Feeling Pokémon. Her horns were able to read people and Pokémon's emotions.

I saw Ralts taking a step towards me and I crouched to face her. She looked directly up at me, with her eyes finally visible. She extended her arm and her eyes started glowing in blue.

After a few seconds, she stared down and happily nodded. _"What just happened?"_ I thought to myself.

When Ralts did that, I felt like someone was reading my mind. Was that even possible?

Calming down, I patted Ralts's head and called her back. _"She probably used her ability __**Trace**__ to found out about my true intentions,"_ I concluded, after remembering that using her skills could enable her to read me.

Then, it meant I did well, right? Of course, it came out weird, but fortunately for me she can read my intentions. I won't need words to interact with my Pokémon.

I grinned, happily while looking at Ralts's Poké Ball.

After this, I told Korianne that I was ready and the three of us headed towards the battle arena, the swimming pool area that also hosted water shows.

* * *

My plans of having a calm day went down the drain as soon as I met Colt.

Somehow, I got dragged along by his reckless behavior and now I was going to fight my first Gym battle, mere minutes after receiving my starter.

I was being unfair. It wasn't just his fault that I was now in front of the swimming pool, ready to face Korianne.

I was probably being affected by my own pride. I couldn't deny that deep inside I wanted to battle a fellow specialist.

Yes, I did wanted to battle her, especially after seeing how serious and honest she was about this situation. Despite feeling uneasy, I was sure that she had to muster a lot of guts to do something like this.

She could have sent me away to avoid having to be in this tough situation, but she decided to face her responsibilities and I reached a point where I couldn't say no to her.

It was probably her first time battling in such an important event, so I felt like showing how serious I was too.

This was probably the confirmation that from now on, I would be one of Colt's rivals.

I was mentally ready for this after calming myself.

Korianne was already on the other side of the pool with a Poké Ball on her hand.

She had explained me that she was ordered to face new trainers in one versus one battles if someone would desire to do so.

Korianne would be using one of the Gym leader's Pokémon. Of course I only had only one option as well, my new partner, Ralts.

Knowing that she was a starter Pokémon, her move set wasn't going to help me that much. Right now, Ralts only had two attacks that dealt damage and one supportive one that would be effective in this arena.

Analyzing the pool, there only a dozen round floating platforms that Ralts could use to avoid entering the water.

I could only win this match if Ralts and I were able to coordinate the transition between defense and offense.

Ralts's **Teleport** move would be the ace up my sleeve for this battle.

Smiling nervously at me, the brown haired girl asked, "Are you ready to start the show?"

I thought that her choice of words was fitting exactly the feeling that this match would give. A great number of people started to enter the countertop area to my right and slowly the benches were being filled by many curious people.

Most of the spectators were students from my school and there were also some tourist families. I was able to find Colt in the crowd and, unfortunately for me, I also spotted my ex-classmate Lyon.

That guy was a hothead and we never get along. The fact that I didn't like battling that much and still gave him a good challenge always pissed him off.

Trying to ignore the red haired nuisance, I started focusing on the main issue, "I'm ready!" I finally answered.

Stretching her arm, she threw her Poké Ball, revealing that my opponent would be a Spheal.

The dual-type Pokémon wasn't a bad opponent for us. Facing the chubby, spherical, seal-like Pokémon would be better than facing a Carvanha.

Reaching for my belt, I grabbed Ralts's Poké Ball and sent it to one of the floating platforms.

"Let us begin, then! I'll give you the first move." She said in a courteous manner.

I sighed at this type of formality. This was probably the usual behavior of a Gym leader. As an apprentice she was just following those rules.

This was an inconvenience for me. Being the analytical type, I never liked to take the lead in the battle. In fact, I always played on the counter attack, waiting for an opening.

Knowing that there wasn't a point in trying to break the habit, I ordered Ralts to attack, "Use **Confusion**!"

At my command, the two red horns on Ralts's head started to glow and she sent out a weak telekinetic force.

If we managed to land a solid hit, Spheal would be confused and Ralts would be able to control the opponent with her mind.

Of course I wasn't expecting to land a decisive blow on the first attack. In fact, I was expecting Korianne to order her Pokémon to dive at any second.

"Time for a swim, Spheal!" As I expected, the brown-haired girl gave the command. Spheal happily rolled its body into the pool.

**Confusion** hadn't landed, just like I had thought. In reality, the first command was my way of hiding the fact that I wanted my opponent to take the lead and I think it was going as planned.

The seal Pokémon was now out of sight. I simply waited for Korianne's next move.

"Spheal, use **Water Gun**!"

Despite her command, the Pokémon still hadn't made the move. Spheal had probably been waiting in the deepest parts of the pool for a while and now it would take a while to come back to the surface.

"Ralts, focus and try to sense Spheal's presence. When you sense the attack Teleport in the opposite direction."

This command was somewhat risky, but I trusted in Ralts's sharp senses, especially after seeing that she was able to connect with my feelings as soon as I introduced myself.

As expected, Spheal appeared at the surface right in front of Ralts and released a spiral of water from its mouth.

Sensing danger, Ralts's body started to glow multicolored and just before being hit, she disappeared.

Seconds later, my Pokémon appeared meters away on top of one platform, being now closer to Korianne.

I sighed in relief. It seemed that my strategy had worked.

"Spheal use **Water Gun**, again!" Once more, Korianne tried to land a hit on Ralts.

That wasn't going to work, "Dodge it, Ralts."

Once more, Spheal shot a blast of water at Ralts and she avoided it using Teleport. Now I was confused. Was Korianne so inexperienced, to the point of making the same mistake twice?

By the smile on her face, I knew that I was the one mistaken. I had misread her.

"You can't keep dodging forever, Neo! Spheal use **Encore**!"

My face was pale now and for a second I was lost on my thoughts. I had just fallen into her trap and for three turns she had an advantage over me.

The only command that I could use right now was Teleport. For three rounds Ralts would be forced to keep dodging.

It might not sound that bad but she probably had something else in mind.

"Spheal, use **Rollout**!"

The seal Pokémon started rolling over its own body, using the round platforms to reach Ralts, its speed gradually growing.

As if jumping from rock to rock, while crossing a river, Spheal started to approach Ralts, "**Teleport!**"

Luckily for me, this first attack was still rather slow, but as Spheal continued to roll over its own body, the speed of **Rollout** started to be more evident.

_"I won't be able to keep dodging it at this rate."_ I thought to myself.

I was still forced to use **Teleport** two more times, but as I kept using this defensive skill, Spheal's attack continued to gain power.

Seeing that the seal Pokémon was once again too close, I shouted, "Ralts dodge to the other side of the pool!"

Ralts teleported to the opposite side, but Spheal's attack was now too strong. After two rounds of using the same attack, the speed that it had built was too much to avoid and Spheal was already crossing the pool.

At this rate the attack was surely going to hit. I panicked. There was no way to dodge the attack now, and Ralts was still glowing blue, finishing the process of teleporting.

My mind went blank. For the first time, I felt hopeless.

I had no way to counter this situation. So this was how a real battle felt like. Now I understood why even the most experienced trainers made mistakes.

I had never experienced anything like this before. Was this adrenaline that I was feeling?

Maybe it was fear of not knowing what to do next. The only thing that was certain for me was that I didn't want to lose like this.

No, rephrasing it, I didn't want to lose at all!

I lost precious seconds with my inner thoughts; Spheal was already centimeters away from Ralts.

I wanted to order to dodge, but my voice didn't come out. I started trembling like my knees were about to give in. _"Behind you! Dodge it!"_

That's what I wanted to shout, but I couldn't muster the strength.

Completing the previous dodge, Ralts turned around and started to glow again.

She was using **Teleport**, once again without my order. How was this even possible?

Was she a rebellious Pokémon that decided to act on her own free will, seeing that I had failed?

No, she didn't seem to have that type of personality when I introduced myself. In fact, she seemed calm and serious.

Unfortunately, Ralts's reaction was a second too late. Just before vanishing again, Ralts was struck by Spheal's body.

I heard her cry of pain fade away as she teleported in front of me.

"I'm sorry, Ralts. I failed you," I apologized. Ralts shook her head and gave me a weak smile.

Seeing her trying so hard to keep herself in battle made me really proud and sad at the same time.

Here she was trying her best to win her first battle and I, her trainer, was having second thoughts and doubts about my potential.

I wasn't strong enough right now, but Ralts didn't seemed affected by that. She was still ready to follow my orders.

Now, with a smile in my face, I said with confidence, "Let's win this, Ralts! Use **Confusion** and send Spheal back to the water."

The effect of Encore was now gone and Spheal was now the one stuck on doing the **Rollout** attack for two more consecutive attacks.

Knowing this, I had to put an end to Spheal's attack. As the seal kept rolling, its attack kept gaining more speed and power.

Ralts's red horns started glowing and she sent a psychic wave that stopped Spheal.

Korianne inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. Now she was the one who had walked into my trap. Being outside the water, her Pokémon couldn't possibly avoid this attack.

A blue light was now surrounding Spheal's body. Ralts had control over her opponent now.

Ralts raised her arms and with a sudden move dropped them and as she did this, Spheal started to float and seconds later was forcibly sent to the water.

I was mesmerized by Ralts psychic power. It was amazing how such a weak attack could still be so beautiful and destructive if used correctly.

From the other side, I heard Korianne letting out a soft chuckle, "You surprised me, I wasn't expecting your Pokémon to survive that hit and stop Spheal's attack!"

"It was all thanks to Ralts."

"Well, now it's my turn! Spheal use **Powder Snow**!" At Korianne's command, Spheal jumped to one of the platforms and inhaled deeply.

A few seconds later, Spheal blew out snow from its mouth.

Knowing that my opponent would be immobile this was my chance, "Ralts, **Teleport** behind Spheal and use **Disarming Voice**."

"No, Spheal, watch out! Behind you!" It was too late. Korianne's warning wasn't on time and her Pokémon wouldn't be able to stop Ralts.

While the seal was still shooting snow from its mouth, Ralts appeared behind it and let out a loud but charming cry that made its opponent vulnerable to future attacks.

Lowering its capability to avoid my next attack, I decided to end this battle, "Ralts, use **Confusion** and send Spheal out of the arena."

Gathering her psychic powers, Ralts started to levitate her enemy and, once she had full control of Spheal's body, Ralts sent her enemy flying against the nearest wall.

With that, I had just won my first Gym battle - with lot of luck and a bit of skill.

Suddenly I became aware of my surroundings again. Since the beginning of the battle, I had been so focused that I had blocked all the noises and my eyes became sensitive.

Was I so happy that I was about to cry? _"No, focus Neo!"_ I scolded myself. It wasn't like me to act so much on my emotions, but I'd admit that I had never felt something like this.

Ralts teleported in front of me and gave me a happy cry. I was so proud of her that I picked her up and embraced her. "Thank you," I whispered softly.

I noticed that Korianne was walking in my direction and she seemed like she didn't know what to say.

"Wow~ Neo! Great battle!" She said, somewhat awkwardly.

"It was amazing," I said sincerely. That was what I really thought.

Normally, I would probably say that this was nothing but a practice between two rookies and I would be bored to death by it.

However, there was a huge difference between watching and battling. This was probably what Colt wanted to show me.

Suddenly, my purple Xtransceiver beeped and I noticed that I had received some money from the fight. "Thanks, Korianne."

"Only doing my job! Here, take this, fellow specialist." She said in a friendly way, handing me a badge with the form of a water slide.

I had to contain the urge to not scoff at the irony of this situation. Sometimes the League managed to impress me.

I took the badge and put it in my bag. In the meantime, the spectators had started to leave the Gym and I noticed that Colt was now approaching me.

He already had a goofy smile on his face and I was sure that he was going to give me the "I-told-you-so" speech.

"Man, that was amazing! Your first battle went really well. I'm proud of you," He said, while hugging me and faking tears.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks. Now, stop doing that!" I scolded him.

At our little interaction, Korianne started laughing, "You guys are funny." She looked at me. "I really had fun today!"

"I know! I knew it was a great idea to come here, right Neo?" Colt was still somewhat excited after all this commotion.

"Yeah, I also had fun," I admitted.

"So, are you guys going to travel throughout Hoenn from now on?" The brown-haired girl asked us with a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

"Of course!" Colt shouted without hesitation. I simply nodded.

Hearing this, Korianne became somewhat sad, "Yeah... That sounds great." After a small pause, she continued, "Well, if you guys excuse me I have some Gym stuff to do. It was a pleasure to meet you." And just like that, she walked away with a melancholy smile on her face.

Colt gave me a confused look. "What the hell just happened?"

I simply shrugged. "I have no idea. C'mon, let's get going."

* * *

After walking around town for a while, I convinced Colt to stay at my aunt's house for the night, instead of renting a room at the local Pokémon Center.

We were already waiting for the bus when Colt started bombarding me with questions about Lyon, the classmate he had met during my battle.

"Are you telling me that you don't like that guy?" Colt said, astonished. "I thought he was really funny!"

"I really couldn't care less for him. The dude is a jerk. He was always trying to pick fights with me."

Colt laughed, "Haha! C'mon, he seemed to be a nice guy. I bet you didn't gave him a chance."

I didn't answer him. There was no point in discussing this matter.

"He told me some funny stories about you... Like this one when you got lost in your world during Roxanne's class or when-"

Suddenly, a female voice broke through Colt's dialogue, and thank Arceus for that. "Guys! W-Wait up!"

We noticed that the one calling for us was Korianne. She was running in our direction and she seemed to be tired.

"A-Ah! Y-You're still here!" She said, in between breaths.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did we leave something behind?" Colt asked, checking his belongings.

"No, that's not it. I-I wanted to ask you something, guys..."

We nodded and she continued, "So... I wanted to know if I could tag along with you guys. J-Just for a while, of course," She added shyly.

Colt gave me a look that clearly said that it was up to me, "Well, we don't really mind, but we won't start our journey until tomorrow. Right now, we're headed to my aunt's to spend the night."

The brown-haired girl looked a bit sad when I told her this. "Ahh okay! Well then let's forget this... I don't want to become a burden for you guys or you aunt."

She was about to leave when I stopped her, "Hey! I don't mind, and I bet my aunt will be happy to have her house filled with people. I'll be the one cooking anyway, so it's totally fine!"

"R-Really? You guys don't mind?" She said, in an almost childish way. It was clear that she really wanted to join us.

"Yeah, of course not! Neo already said so," Colt said, trying to break the heavy mood. "But weren't you on charge of the Gym just hours ago?"

Colt finally decided to try to find out what was going on. Both of us were still confused about this sudden situation.

Korianne scratched her head sheepishly, "Well, the Gym Leader returned a few minutes ago and told me that if I wanted I should also start a journey, and that it would be good for me to explore the world and catch some Pokémon."

I nodded; her explanation finally cleared my confusion. However, Colt seemed to be upset. I was betting that he was contemplating if he should turn back and go fight the Gym Leader now.

"Damn it! So the Gym Leader is back now, hmm?" Colt said trying to sound casual.

He noticed that I knew what he was thinking. "Oh, forget about it! I'll go back tomorrow."

Minutes passed an the three of us kept talking and having fun, telling funny stories and just simply getting to know each other.

The bus finally arrived and we headed on our way, towards Oldale Town.


	5. The Competition Starts

**A/N: Hey guys Captspeed here with a new update :D**

**Thank you for sending the Gym leader characters so fast, that was really surprising.**

**Ckbrothers: I was happy that you lost some of your time to make a char for the story and because you are always giving some precious feedback, I'll consider in having your char in the story :) You still broke the rules tho, submitting an OC through review is kinda lame and let's hope that noone noticed that. Just create an account Ck it would be easier for you as well to keep track of your favorite stories and writers.**

**Remvis: Thank you so much for the feedback and I hope that you keep enjoying the story. Btw the Gym leader character was appreciated :3**

**JJun: Yeah Jun, Kori decided to join those three for now :O we both know that Neo is the lone type, let's see how that develops :3 Ohh you meant Lyon? (instead of Tyler?) Yeah, Lyon will indeed give Neo some hard times xD thank u for the reviews and the char bud**

**crankiestnebula: Miss you bud, you've been busy for too long... Come back! xD I'm glad that you like my battles :D**

**666funtimes: Thank you as always for the sincere feedback funtimes :D I'm glad that you guys showed interest in the way that I wrote the battle scenes since I was afraid, thinking that it was somewhat long and maybe boring.**

**Koraru Kinomoto: Of course I'd use your char Koraru :D this is a SYOC story after all and I hope that you keep enjoying it.**

**RagingKoopatroopa: Thank you some much for the reviews Rage, as always I try to do my best with the writing, but this is a teamwork between me and KomoriRin so cheers for him as well :D I'm glad that you liked the chapter and thanks for the GL character!**

**sonofthetrigod: trigod I'm glad that you enjoyed the battle, cuz to be honest, at first I was kinda afraid to know how the readers would react.**

**Like always, thank you for your support on the story and a special thanks to everyone who loses some of their time creating chars for the story and of course your feedback is also appreciated.**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Hoenn, Oldale Town, Neo's POV**

The bus ride went quickly, as always. The three of us arrived at my aunt's to find her sitting lazily on the sofa, wearing some revealing shorts.

I had called to warn her that I was bringing guests, but she didn't really care.

This was her normal behavior and I was used to it. Don't get me wrong, as a teenager I too had some trouble blocking my aunt's charm.

I had to almost carry her back to her room, where I told her to change.

Heading downstairs, I had to apologize to my guests. "Guys, I'm sorry. My aunt is kinda carefree, but I promise she isn't a bad person."

At my explanation, Korianne started giggling. "It looks like your roles are reversed."

I sighed. It was partly true. My aunt didn't really know how to take care of herself and I was a bit worried about leaving her alone when I went on my journey.

Colt was still astonished at what he had seen. "Damn, bro, your aunt is something else..." He said, blushing in embarrassment.

I facepalmed at his reaction. I could understand it, but if my aunt heard him say that she would've probably boasted about it all night and incessantly tease him.

"Colt, believe me, she's scary... I think it's best if you don't tell her that." I said with my most serious face. Well, it was my natural expression, but I added something extra to scare him.

Colt lifted an eyebrow, showing on his face that he clearly believed my lie. He knew about her past as a highly ranked officer in Team Galactic, and, knowing that the woman had been exiled from her region, made my lie seem very believable.

"Don't tell me what?" My aunt Mars shouted as she silently entered the living room.

I saw Korianne and Colt freeze in fear. Now I was feeling bad for my bad choice of words. "Oh, I said that Colt shouldn't tell you that he was from Johto," I said as I reached my aunt and kissed her cheek. "Because I know that you would have asked him to bring some honey next time."

My aunt scoffed and said, "Well, you know me too well. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Colt. I mean, I had already seen you many times since Neo almost broke the replay button while watching your battles."

I saw Colt cheeks puff. He was holding in a laugh- I just knew it. My aunt had to go and spill the beans.

"It's a pleasure as well, Ms. Mars! Thank you for taking care of Neo until now," Colt said, maybe a little bit too formally.

I sighed in annoyance. Why did he have to say that last part? It wasn't like my aunt was the one who was looking after me. It was the other way around from the beginning.

"Oh please, Colt, you flatter me too much!" In my aunt's face there was a proud smile and I couldn't help but grin at as well.

I saw that Korianne was having trouble trying to figure out a way to introduce herself.

Being very sharp with this type of thing, my aunt immediately tried to tease her. "And who's the young lady? Are you Colt's girlfriend?"

Colt gaped at this joke and couldn't really find the right words to say. He was probably surprised to find out that the stories I told him about my aunt were true.

"Aunt, please don't tease them too much. It's not like that." I tried to ease the situation as I hung our coats in the entry hall.

"Y-Yes, Neo's right. I-I'm Korianne and I'm just their friend. T-Thank you for having me!" Korianne said, trying to stay as calm as possible.

My aunt looked at me in surprise and said, "N-Neo! Y-You have a girlfriend!" She faked a sob. "I'm so proud of you! I thought you couldn't talk to girls. Ah~ you've grown so much." She finished, while ruffling my hair.

Hearing this made Colt finally lose his fake composure and he started to laugh along with my aunt.

Despite still being embarrassed and a little bit intimidated, Korianne started to feel more at home with this display of silliness.

I was about to scold my aunt, but there was no fixing her trickster ways. At least now everyone was starting to warm up to each other.

Seeing that it was almost dinnertime, I headed towards the kitchen, getting ready to cook something quick.

I was not the best cook in town, but at least my food wasn't paper-flavored like my aunt's dishes.

"What do you want for dinner, guys?" I asked from the kitchen door.

"Cook some meat, Neo! Ah and bring me some beer, please!" My aunt shouted happily and then proceeded to offer some alcohol to my friends as well, which they refused quickly.

* * *

I was starting to get everything ready when someone entered the kitchen.

For a second I thought that it was my aunt's Purugly, getting ready to tackle me once more, but when I turned around I was surprised to see that Korianne was the one approaching me.

"Lemme help you, Neo!" She said cheerfully, picking up a kitchen knife and starting to cut some potatoes.

"It's ok, you don't need to bother yourself, Korianne. You're the guest here, so just relax in the living room." I said, feeling a tad guilty that my guest was the one helping me instead of my aunt.

"It's okay, Neo. I don't mind!" Korianne said kindly. "I always helped my big brother in the kitchen when he was taking care of me." Saying this, I noticed that her expression changed quite a bit. Now she had this pained look on her face.

The nostalgia from this scene was probably bringing back some sad memories. Maybe she had some tragic event in her past.

I tried to shake these thoughts out of my mind, hoping that I hadn't stared at her for too long.

"And I told you not be so formal with me. You can call me Kori." This time, she scolded me as if I was doing something wrong. It wasn't the first time that she had done this.

During our bus trip, she had also tried to act as the peacemaker between me and Colt's friendly arguments.

I decided to go along with her. Kori's reaction made me want to laugh. She seemed to enjoy acting like a big sister. She was 19 years old, three years older than me.

I started to wonder if this was due to the fact that she was now living by herself. Maybe something bad had happened to her family.

She hadn't shared much about her past, but I knew that she was from Johto and now apparently, she also had an older brother.

I didn't find it strange that she didn't want to talk more about her own life. In fact, it was probably best this way. She didn't seem ready to talk about herself and I understood how she felt.

I decided to focus on cooking. There was no point in worrying about this now.

From the living room, I kept hearing my aunt's hearty laugh as she kept asking Colt to tell more funny stories about me.

I sighed and tried to ignore their laughter. At least the closest people to me were getting along just fine.

* * *

The night went by so fast that it was past midnight when we finally headed upstairs to get some rest.

After dinner, we spent hours talking in the living room about all topics imaginable.

My aunt seemed happy, always throwing in her sarcastic jokes and laughing a lot. This was probably because she kept saying to bring her more beer.

After the third one I noticed that her face was already matching her red hair so I had to act as the parent and scold her about it.

From this time we spent together, I also noticed that Kori enjoyed listening to people, since she kept smiling and observing Colt and I talking about our dreams and goals for this year.

Maybe this was how I looked whenever I was trying to read the moves of a trainer in battle.

Well it was a bit weird. No wonder people sometimes looked disgusted by my habit.

As we kept talking, Colt admitted that he wanted to leave for his journey early in the morning.

He was probably still mad because he couldn't get his first badge earlier. He was always a stubborn guy and I knew that this was probably bothering him.

I told him that the nearest Gym was one town ahead and if he walked at a fast pace, he would reach it in half an hour.

Colt's eyes started sparkling when I told him this. He reacted like a little girl who had just seen her idol. Soon, his competitive side started to show in our conversation and the subject changed.

He started remembering the challenge that he had proposed to me when we were kids. The one-sided promise that he made with me, that one day we would face each other on the finals and fight with all our might.

Colt kept telling me that I should go for the Conference, because he really wanted to fight against me. This wasn't really something new for me, I was used to this by now.

I simply told him that that wasn't really in my plans and, as usual, we started to have one of our friendly arguments about each other's objectives.

He kept insisting that I should face the Gyms, saying that it'd be a good experience, but I told him that this method wasn't the only way of obtaining strength.

As our argument started to get more serious, just like earlier today, Kori finally decided to barge into our talk and put an end into it.

She kept telling us that as good friends, we should accept our deferring opinions.

This was definitely something that we were working on, since our times in Kanto, but sometimes this would still create us problems.

Suddenly, I noticed that my aunt was sobbing weakly, murmuring something. She kept repeating that she didn't want me to leave her alone and that she would miss me.

I froze. _"It's probably because of the beer,"_ I thought to myself at the time.

Taking advantage of the strained mood, I suggested that we should all get some sleep and, with that, we all trooped upstairs.

I told Kori that she could have the guest room, since it would be weird to sleep in the same room as two guys she had just met.

I carried my aunt to her room and as soon as she fell into her bed, she went to sleep like a wild Snorlax.

Colt and I grabbed two sleeping bags and decided to sleep on the floor of my room. This was something that we used to do since our times in Kanto.

* * *

It was already very late but I was still not feeling sleepy. I kept turning around, trying to get comfortable, but my mind wouldn't settle down.

I decided to get up and cool my head in my room's balcony, walking as soft as I could, trying not to wake up my best friend, who kept turning around and mumbling something about battling.

I grinned. He was always like that. He really loved Pokémon battles. Even in his sleep he couldn't stop thinking about them.

Today, somehow, I had also grown fond of battling.

I didn't know why, but my heart was still pounding as I remembered my first Gym challenge.

Who would've thought that I would get so excited about something so trivial? I was acting just like Colt, getting seriously excited for each victory and challenge that I faced.

I sat on the floor in the lotus position and decided to meditate for a little while.

I needed to focus and quiet my mind, because at this rate I wouldn't be able to rest and I was getting somewhat tired since yesterday. I couldn't calm down either.

A few minutes later, after being able to settle down and become more aware of my surroundings, I heard some slow footsteps approach me and a small body seated itself next to me, imitating my position.

Opening one eye, while trying to maintain my focus, I noticed that the one sitting there was Ralts.

"Thank you for today. You were amazing," I said, praised my companion, which she seemed to enjoy, evident by her happy expression.

"I still don't know how you managed to avoid that attack... Did you make that decision yourself?" I asked Ralts, still intrigued about the fact that somehow due to her lucky dodge, we managed to win.

Ralts tilted her head in confusion and then shook it. She got up and climbed onto my lap, pointing towards my heart.

This time I was the one confused. Did this mean that she could understand my feeling or was it perhaps some type of telepathy?

I patted Ralts's head affectionately, receiving a happy cry in exchange and said, "Let's get some rest. We've got to have energy for the first day of our journey."

Ralts nodded and we headed inside, ready to finally sleep.

* * *

**Hoenn, Route 102, Colt's POV**

It was eight in the morning and I was already dashing towards Petalburg City.

As Neo had said yesterday, the city wasn't that far away from Oldale and if I was to speed up my pace, I would arrive there in less than an hour.

Of course I could always go slower and enjoy a bit more of my first trip through Hoenn's routes, but I really wanted to make sure that I would be the first one to challenge the city Gym.

I was feeling somewhat bitter for leaving Neo's house so early, but since I hadn't managed to win my first badge yesterday, I couldn't afford to lose any more time.

I thought that Neo would understand my point of view and he knew that I was also excited to start my journey off with a bang.

I had been a bit depressed. After that loss at the Kanto Conference all the pressure from my mother and the Clan wasn't helping.

However, today none of that mattered. Once again, it would be only me and my Pokémon, trying our hardest to accomplish something big.

Due to my best friend, who had a database on his head instead of a brain, I was already briefed on my opponent's background.

Apparently, my opponent was a woman known as Rusty Rusky who specialized in steel types.

After a few years of training under Norman's guidance, she took his place. The fact that his son Ruby was missing made the famous Gym Leader retire from his duties. He started to help Neo's father in the search for the missing Dex Holders.

Neo also warned me that the new Gym leader always used Aggron and Empoleon when fighting against stronger trainers.

I wasn't really scared about Aggron or any other Pokémon with weakness against water since I had moves of that type at my disposal.

However, the fact that she had Empoleon on her team could mean trouble for my trump card, Charmeleon.

She probably had the water and steel Pokémon to counter the team's weakness against fire types.

I sighed to myself. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to sweep her team with my fire type advantage.

I was still going to use Charmeleon, though. I knew that the lizard was close to evolving since our last battle and I was hoping that today I would finally be able to achieve that.

With that in mind, I was pretty confident about today's battle.

After hearing Neo's Intel on the Gym leader, I was sure that I would manage to win my first badge.

I had to hold the urge of bursting out laughing when I remembered Neo's seriousness as he told me about the Gym leader.

His awkwardness with people hadn't changed at all, but somehow he seemed happier than before.

I was surprised by the small changes in Neo's behavior, especially when I noticed that he was starting to lose that blank gaze that he had back in Kanto.

After seeing his relationship with his aunt, I realized that the woman's pushy personality was able to break through Neo's uncaring side.

As I always imagined, my little bro only needed some love and attention, something that he had never experienced with his parents.

They were always away, busy with their own agenda.

This made Neo become cold, growing used to having no emotional attachments while being forced to look out for himself.

But what I had seen yesterday was a completely different person. This year that Neo spent with Mars really helped him heal some old wounds.

The ex-criminal also seemed to be very attached to her nephew and that was clear to me when we had that little chat time, just the two of us, in the living room.

She wouldn't stop asking me about Neo's relationship with his parents and his friends.

I noticed that she was worried that Neo always seemed lonely, and the fact that his family sent him away for stupid reasons was really hard for her to believe.

When I told her the details about his parents' absence and the fact that Neo was pretty much an unsociable person since his early childhood, who only seemed to enjoy observing trainer's battles and reading, Mars almost lost her head and that was when she started to drink like crazy.

Now remembering her reaction, it was pretty funny, but totally understandable. He always had it rough and Mars couldn't accept that.

This was one of the reasons that I decided to approach Neo back in Kanto. Somehow we were similar in terms of our family background and I started to feel like somehow, we could each help heal the other's wounds and grow to understand each other.

I shook my head, trying to drive these sad thoughts out, not wanting to ruin my excitement for my first battle in Hoenn.

After a few minutes of walking, my eyes caught sight of some rooftops and soon after I noticed the sign indicating that I was now entering Petalburg City.

I sighed in relief, happy that I finally managed to reach the city. Now I was feeling grateful that I managed to stay awake to hear Neo's long and detailed information.

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Lyon's POV**

I still couldn't believe what happened yesterday.

I was planning on enjoying my day with the rest of my classmates, when suddenly I got dragged into the Gym to watch some beginner fight.

One of my friends was super excited, saying that there was something big going on. Apparently there was a new trainer challenging Rustboro's Gym and the battle was about to start.

_"A battle on the first day of their journey? That's impossible!"_ I remember answering that in shock.

However, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided put my pride to the side and check out what was happening.

This beginner had me interested. Who would do something so reckless? The trainer had to be pretty strong and confident.

That was the only explanation that I could find. Even though I was reckless, I wouldn't dare to do such a thing, the day I had received my starter.

When I saw the one who was battling, I was sure that my face must have turned paper white. It was that damned Neo!

He was the one challenging the Gym. That long haired guy who always made me go nuts without trying.

The stoic bastard who claimed he didn't enjoyed battling, but always seemed to do great without even trying.

The loner who spent most of his time reading or quietly watching the others battle.

That always made me really mad. I always figured that he thought of us as nothing but losers and that was why he never even tried to communicate with us.

When I looked at him, he always seemed bored and whenever we tried to talk with him, he always answered shortly with no emotions whatsoever and he would return to his daydreaming as soon as possible.

At the gym, I was surprised once by Neo, and again by someone else.

Some seats to my right, there was a rising star from Kanto, the Dragon specialist Colt. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I was frozen in excitement. Was Colt going to participate in Hoenn's Conference?

If that was his reason for being here, then I might be able to face him in a battle.

I really liked how that sounded. The possibility of facing Lance's son in battle and maybe even befriending him. That would be an honor.

I joined him and introduced myself, hoping to make a first good impression.

As I thought, he was a really nice guy and he was also pretty friendly, but as soon as I talked to him about his performance in the last competition, his confidence suddenly disappeared.

Trying to ease the mood, I changed the subject and asked him why he was there, watching a newbie fight.

He answered that he was there to watch him. Him, Neo the purple haired brat.

I didn't want to believe this, but he then ended up explaining that he was good friends with the psychic specialist.

_"You guys are friends? Seriously?"_ I remember asking in shock.

He then explained me a bit of their story. Apparently they went to the same school back in Kanto, and, thanks to Neo's weird fetish for watching people, they met each other.

He asked me if I knew him and I told him that we were classmates, but we didn't get along at all. In fact, I kind of hated him.

The following words that he traded with me were serious and his tone became harsh. I remembered flinching at them.

He told me that back in Kanto Neo used to be treated pretty roughly, due to his family's past, and that was why he grew to be cold and distrusting.

Now his words were still resonating in my head. I never had thought that Neo had had such a rough past, and, when I heard that even his family were almost strangers to him, I became to regret some of my actions.

Only some of them. He was still an ass for not trying to get along with everyone and it was pretty much his fault for being such a weirdo.

But that wasn't important now. I was just exiting my old school, with the Poké Ball of my starter in my hand.

I was still pretty shocked that I managed to graduate at my first try. The fact that I was also able to score enough points to choose a Tyrogue just seemed too perfect.

My grades weren't that great and I got in trouble often, due to my bad habit of getting into fights, with or without Pokémon.

I couldn't care less for that stuff now. School was over, I had my starter, and I was just about to do something crazy as well.

Seeing that Neo was able to gain his first Gym badge on his first day, I couldn't possibly stay behind him and that was why I was now sprinting towards the exact same Gym.

"Tch! I can't possibly stay behind him! I'm going to show that brat how real trainers battle!" I mumbled to myself, while tightly holding Tyrogue's Poké Ball.

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Colt's POV**

After walking around for a while, the city had made me become somewhat disappointed.

Petalburg wasn't really that amazing. The city was somewhat plain just like Kanto's cities.

The only major difference were the multiple lakes spread around the city, which gave it a more tropical ambiance.

After making a sharp turn, while headed towards the building with the orange roof, I bumped into someone.

"I'm really sorry! I'm in a hurry, bye!" I shouted as I kept walking, noticing that the guy was still standing, if a bit dumbfounded, but I thought that he would be okay.

Finally reaching the city's Gym, I grinned in enthusiasm and decided to step inside.

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Dillon's POV**

It was so early in the morning and I was still pretty tired, almost dragging my feet as I got off the bus.

_"I really shouldn't have stayed awake for that long."_ I started to regret staying up past midnight just to watch my parents' idol show.

Thinking again on what I had said to myself, I came to the conclusion that I had no reason to blame the show for my lack of sleep.

I really missed my parents, Yancy and Curtis, but I also knew that this was their lifestyle and I respected them so much for being able to move everyone with their performance skills.

I wanted to be like them. I wanted to make others happy, while using my interviewing gift.

Soon after graduating with a score of 563, I received many invites from TV producers and I ended up accepting a proposal from a Hoenn channel that allowed me to travel around the region, while interviewing and analyzing various trainers and battlers.

This was just perfect for me. My dream of hosting my own show where I could interview my guests and act as a commentator in their battles was now close to become a reality.

The channel president also said that if I did well with my TV show, he would allow me to be one of the commentators during Hoenn's Conference.

This was just so unreal to me. My head was still somewhere above the clouds, floating around in happiness. I, Dillon, would become a TV start in the first year of my career. Sounded amazing, right?

Everything was so great. Too bad that yesterday I had missed the new trainer that won a Gym badge the day he received his first Pokémon.

I was still depressed about this. _"How come I missed this chance?"_ I kept asking myself, as I wondered how amazing it would be to make my first interview with such an interesting person.

Neo was the guy's name. When I heard the descriptions from the spectators I interviewed, the description matched exactly that one guy that was sitting quietly a couple of seats ahead of me, during the starters' selection.

When I dug some more into this guy's past, I found out that he was actually son of some well-known figures from Kanto and Johto.

This surprised me a lot. If I had noticed him earlier, yesterday I could have started my show with his interview.

Not only this, but I also found out that Lance's kid and Brawly's nephew were there watching Neo's battle.

This development was too good and unfortunately for me it also happened when I was busy in a boring meeting with the directors.

I would pay just to record some of those moments of those three rising stars.

People also seemed excited after hearing my news on what happened after Neo's battle. Apparently they became interested in knowing more about these three guys.

This was perfect. I had my audience excited and wanting to see my interviews on trainers like those three.

My show would definitely grow to be famous, since people always loved to watch gossip content, and if I was to add some battle action to it, the results would be even better.

I couldn't help but smile to myself, as I kept roaming through Petalburg, hoping that my deduction would pay off.

Getting access to some private information, I learnt that Neo was now living in Oldale and there were witnesses that had seen him, Colt and a girl taking a bus for that location.

Assuming that the experienced Colt didn't want to waste any time, I was counting on seeing him challenge this city's Gym today.

In my backpack was my favorite possession, my video camera.

Today, I wasn't going to miss my chance. I would definitely interview Colt and film his battle.

Being distracted with my thoughts, I suddenly felt my body collide with something. Someone had bumped into me.

The blue haired guy that bumped into me quickly apologized and kept running forward.

"Why is he running so early in the morning? Damn!" I mumbled to myself as I checked my back to see if my camera was okay.

Looking at my reflection in a shop window, I quickly adjusted my outfit. I needed to look good in case if I needed to start recording.

My pink shirt was a bit messy and my waistcoat was also out of place. Fortunately for me, my white jeans and pink shoes were still stainless and my hair was still looking cool.

Finishing my adjustments, I suddenly became aware of something. _"Wait a second... didn't that guy have blue hair… just like Colt's?"_ I thought to myself as my brain finally awakened from its sleepy state.

"It has to be him! He's headed to the Gym! I have to hurry!" I shouted in distress as I dashed towards the Gym, hoping that I could find a seat to watch and record his battle.

* * *

**Well guys this is it! I must apologize for not including a battle scene in this chapter, but I decided to build some more background on the three main characters for this Hoenn story: Neo, Colt and Lyon. I'm also trying to come up with good ideas to introduce all the new OC's, but I can't do that in one-shot, so you guys will have to be patient if your character is not having enough screen time.  
**

**Believe me when I tell you that I've been really busy with university/college stuff and both Rin and I are trying our best to come up with material for you guys, as fast as we can!**

**For this reason, I've decided to start updating more frequently using chapter with less words: probably around 2k.**

**Now I know what you guys are thinking: "But Captspeed! That's probably half of what you used to upload!" "The chapters will be lacking content and the story will be rushed!"**

**Something along those lines xD But as you guys noticed, I usually divide the chapters in 4 POV scenes (around 1/2k words each) and thanks to that I'll be able to transform easily the long chapters in to multiple small ones, which will allow me and Rin - my beta - to work and upload content faster.**

**I hope that you guys are not against this idea. I also wanted to tell you guys that I already made my mind about the objective for the bad guys. For those who paid attention on the introducing chapters, I've foreshadowed some of my intentions for this group and I finally decided that their goal will be to take down the League, in order to fix the messed up stuff.**

**1) Soon I'll tease you guys about the bad guys using Alpha, Omega and Delta! Those are good code names right? ;)**

**2) Are you hyped to read Colt and Lyon's battle? What do you think of these two characters so far?**

**3) Neo is also about to leave home as well and hopefully he'll get some action soon! What do you think of his personality and family background? Hopefully he isn't too boring with his awkward personality and lack of social interaction. When I thought of this char I pictured him being an autistic child that is only comfortable expressing himself when Pokémon are involved - I guess we can call him a Pokédere; that's new and I like it xD As an author, his analytical attitude and his constant inner thoughts are very helpful for me to build the plot and I grew to love this char.  
**

**Sorry for all this A/N spam, but this is the easiest way for me to contact all of you guys and hopefully get some feedback in return :D**

**If you enjoy SYOC stories give 666funtimes and sonofthetrigod some support by creating some characters for their work :)**


	6. The Flirty Gym Leader

**A/N: Hey guys, a wild update appears! :D**

**I must say that I was surprised for the amount of feedback that I had from the last update and even the "good chapter" reviews/PMs mean a lot to me, cuz' I know how lazy we get here on fanfic xD**

**Well, now answering you guys:**

**sonofthetrigod: As always thanks for you words of support buddy and I'm glad that you keep reading and enjoying this work.**

**Koraru Kinomoto: Kino I'm glad you like it :D Hopefully we'll see some more of Neo and Kori in the future updates, working on them as fast as I can (A)**

**BigBravo: Thank you Bravo :'D I'm glad to know that u guys will still be interested in reading the story no matter how long I take. Btw! SPOILER ALERT: You're going to enjoy this chapter :3**

**RagingKoopatroopa: Damnnn that hurts bro! I'm a funny guy, most of the time at least xD just cuz I enjoy killing OC chars in SNK and making up dramatic heroes doesn't mean anything (A) Oh and that's for sure, slowly I'll begin to make all the chars meet and at some point stuff will get crazy! And as always thanks for the support :D**

**The OC maker: Our new addition to the followers, thank you so much for the support and I think that I'm developing a Sadistic side since I started my SNK story :X I really created a messed up past for poor Neo and even his personality is somewhat twisted. Poor guy xD That's actually a good idea, but how about this: POKERUS. Think about the possibilities! Haha I still need to come up with something solid for the wrongdoings of the bad guys, but I think that I'm getting close, I already see the light :D Btw, I started to love Mars character somehow, specially after giving Neo such an messed up family, Silver and Sabrina aren't good role models.**

**And finally before starting this chapter I wanted to thank funtimes for warning of my mistake on this last update. Unfortunately it seems like I mixed up a bit of Neo's personality into Colt's first POV scene.**  
**After finding some time to reread the chapter I noticed that this was true and that by mistake/lack of attention I messed up and made Colt act a little bit like Neo, over thinking stuff. In funtimes words Colt is supposed to be more passionate, an open person and I couldn't have said it better and I'll admit my mistake, I really failed on that detail.**

**I also wanted to apologize cuz' the last chapter probably contained too much background information, but I felt like I needed to set some bases before the story started to focus more in the Adventure genre on the upcoming chapters. I might have messed up and this was probably a bad decision on my part.  
**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Colt's POV**

As Neo had said, the building still looked like a training dojo from the outside. It seemed that the new Gym leader wanted to keep its exterior appearance out of respect for her mentor.

However, inside, the gym was completely different from what I was expecting. I had imagined that the building would have stone or wood walls, but to my surprise, they were covered in layers of steel.

This made the Gym look like a bunker, ready to take a nuclear bomb or a **Self-Destruct** explosion.

To ease the harsh atmosphere, the walls were decorated with black and white paintings of steel type Pokémon.

Distracted as I was, admiring the Gym's interior, I didn't notice a feminine figure getting dangerously close.

Feeling something soft press against my back, I noticed a head appear above my left shoulder. "Hi there, young one."

What was touching were the woman's breasts. That, and the way that she had just whispered into my ears seductively, made me jump forward in embarrassment.

I started to feel my blood concentrating around my ears and cheeks as my blush kept growing.

I started to hear the woman laughing softly after seeing my reaction, "Haha! So innocent. You're a cute guy!" She said as she tried to hold in her laughter. I noticed her hair was black, and in a pixie cut.

The way she talked seemed fake, like she was trying to cover up a foreign accent.

Finally able to gain control of myself, I turned around to face the woman that had been teasing me since the minute she first saw me.

She was probably the same height as me if not for her white ankle-high boots.

The woman had a tanned skin tone- normal for someone who had spent enough time in Hoenn.

She was wearing a crimson duffle coat with gold buttons, which seemed like the wrong thing to wear in this region. I wondered how she managed to survive the heat.

Once again, she got extremely close to me and she stared me in the eyes. "So, what are you doing here, cutie?" She asked as she trailed her finger along my blushing cheek. "You certainly didn't come here just to look at my beautiful art and eyes, right?"

As she said this, she held my head to make sure I was facing her steel blue eyes, which showed a mixture of seriousness and enjoyment.

"I-I'm here to challenge this Gym!" I managed to say under my breath, finally able to avert her intense gaze.

She was killing me. The woman was definitely attractive and her forwardness was making me lose my head. Right now I felt like a little Rattata stuck on a Fearow's claws.

Finally creating some distance between us, the black haired woman smiled and said, "Alright, follow me."

I sighed in relief, seeing that I was finally free from her grip. If she had kept that act up I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else.

I wasn't a pervert or anything like that, but I wasn't blind either. Her flirty behavior would've made any teenager go crazy.

I started shaking my head, trying to forget the feeling of the woman's bust on my back. She had some really good assets.

As we passed through the entrance hall, everything was still pretty much deserted. Right now we were probably the only ones in the Gym.

"Is it too early for me to battle the leader?" I asked in disappointment. It was still nine in the morning.

The woman chuckled and said, "No, you've come just in time!"

We passed an automatic door and she led me towards the Gym arena. The battle area was a mixture of ground and metallic rocks.

This was the typical habitat for any steel type, and the perfect environment for them to fight at their true potential.

"So... Do you know if the Gym leader is going to take long?" I asked the woman as I looked around the battle arena.

Once again violating my privacy, the woman approached me and grabbed my ear playfully. "Dummy! I'm Svetlana Lagunov, the leader of the Petalburg City Gym," she declared confidently which made me gasp in surprise.

"What, do you think I'm not strong enough to face you?" She said, raising an eyebrow, clearly annoyed.

"N-No! That's not it! I've just never met a Gym leader that acted like that towards their guests! At least not in Kanto," I tried to explain, and the woman seemed to believe me. She smiled softly.

"So cute and innocent... I'll consider giving you as a pet to my girlfriend," she said, smiling in a creepy way. I hoped that this was just her teasing again, because it wasn't funny. In fact, it was about as scary as Mars's humor.

"So you're from Kanto, right?" I nodded and she kept talking. "This is not the first year of your journey, I suppose, so~ show me your trainer card and I'll decided what to do with you." She almost sounded like she was singing as she winked at me.

Now that I knew that she was the Gym leader, her flirty behavior wasn't important anymore. I had to focus on winning, no matter what.

She analyzed my card and, seeing my achievements and main team, she picked three Poké Balls from her belt. "Let's go! Show me what you've got, cutie!"

We took our positions. She was the first one to call out a Pokémon, revealing that she would start with her Empoleon.

Neo's assumptions were spot on when he told me that she would probably be using her strongest against me.

Knowing that she had just seen my team to determine my strength, starting with the water type was her best option. Empoleon was probably packed with one or two ice type attacks and this meant trouble for me.

My options weren't really that great. I decided to call Gyarados to the battle.

After receiving a **Tackle** from the serpentine Pokémon (for not showing her more attention, I guess), I patted her head and asked nicely for her help me out in this battle.

_"Geez, what a troublesome Pokémon,"_ I thought to myself as I smiled at Gyarados's antics.

From the other side of the arena, Svetlana shouted, "This will be a 3 versus 3 battle! You can take the first move, cutie!" Confident as always, she was smirking, which made Gyarados lose her temper.

My Pokémon was very overprotective and she immediately let out an intimidating roar, getting pumped for the battle.

"Well, this seems perfect. She's stronger when she gets angrier. So good job, flirty leader," I thought before making my first move. "Gyarados use **Crunch**!"

I decided to attack head-on, trying to figure what her plan was in order to stop a physical Pokémon like mine.

"Puzyri, defend yourself with Iron Defense!" As she ordered this, her Empoleon crossed its wings and its body became surrounded in a blue light.

Gyarados was already a hand's length away from delivering the attack with her fangs, but as it made contact with the glowing body of Empoleon, the damage was negated and the opponent's Pokémon had easily stopped the attack.

The impact of the opponent's defensive technique made Gyarados float to my side of the arena.

"Puzyri, use **Steel Wing**!" Not letting my Pokémon take a breather, the Gym leader's Pokémon dashed towards Gyarados with both of its wings glowing white.

"Try to dodge it, and use **Twister** to create distance!" I shouted as I noticed that Empoleon was already swinging its wings repeatedly, trying to hit my Pokémon.

Unfortunately for me, due to Gyarados massive size, she was not the most agile Pokémon and only managed to evade a couple hits before taking some damage.

A few seconds after my command, Gyarados's mouth created a spiraling **Twister** and she shot away Empoleon, finally creating some distance.

I noticed Svetlana smirk, clearly proud of being able to deal some damage to my Pokémon. But this battle was only just starting.

"Gyarados, use **Rain Dance**!" Letting out a terrifying screech, my Pokémon spun her body and soon after, rain clouds covered the battle arena and rain started to pour.

The Gym leader seemed to be a bit stunned by my choice of move, but she immediately covered up her worries with an attack. "Puzyri, use **Scald**!"

Taking aim at Gyarados, Empoleon blasted a powerful jet of water from its beak.

Thanks to the rain that was now falling, water attacks would deal extra damage, but it was something that I had needed to do.

Seeing that the ground was still rather dry, I had to keep Empoleon busy while I waited to deal one decisive strike, "Gyarados, endure the hit!"

As ordered, Gyarados stayed firm, being able to hold the pressure of the water attack. Despite this attack being powered up by the rain, it was still not very effective. But I still needed Svetlana to be distracted.

Finally noticing that my patience paid off, the battle arena was now drenched enough for me to knock out the water type nuisance, "Gyarados, use **Thunder**!"

"Stop the attack and try to reflect it away with **Steel Wing**!" my opponent shouted in distress, finally realizing what I had in mind.

Knowing that my Pokémon wasn't really the best special attacker, I had to be patient and set up the right weather conditions to help me win with this powerful electric move.

Letting out an enraged roar, Gyarados focused her strength upward making the rain clouds change into a thunderstorm.

Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt fell from the clouds, hitting the Empoleon, who tried to shake of the impact with its silver wings.

Having the field around its body covered in water, I was expecting that Empoleon wouldn't survive a hit like this, but when the smoke cleared, the water Pokémon was still standing.

_"It can't be!"_ I thought to myself, as I examined my opponent's Pokémon. Still in a defensive stance, with its wings crossed, the Empoleon was pretty bruised, and was panting.

"That's it, buddy! Hang in there!" The Gym leader tried to cheer, but as soon as she said this, Empoleon's legs gave out and the Pokémon fell on its back, finally passing out from the damage taken.

I sighed in relief.

"That was close! You did great, Puzyri." She praised her Pokémon while recalling it. "That was some nice thinking Colt, but your Pokémon looks pretty hurt too!" She shouted back, trying to corner me.

However, she was right. Gyarados was looking tired, too, and she also seemed to be shaking in pain.

When I took a closer look to her, I noticed that her side scales had a burn mark. _"That's probably the effects of Scald!"_ I thought to myself. I remembered that the previous attack had an extra effect, which unfortunately had been activated.

I scoffed and said, "Bring it on, Svetlana! I can keep going."

At my confident comment, my opponent simply smiled and threw out her next Pokémon, revealing it to be a tough and huge Aggron.

Looking at my options, I decided to call back Gyarados and grabbed another Poké Ball. "I'll have to save you for later, thanks for your hard work," I whispered softly to my partner.

"That was a wise move! You're not just a pretty face!" Svetlana said in a teasing way, giggling, trying to make me feel embarrassed again.

"Well, thanks, but let's focus on the battle!" I said seriously, leaving no room for jokes. I had just taken out one of her Pokémon but I still had to win this fight, so I had to focus.

* * *

**This was the first part of Colt's battle and personally I loved Svetlana's flirty personality and it was really fun to tease poor Colt. I also started to ship GyaradosXColt xD this idea of having this scary Pokémon acting so lovely towards her trainer makes me laugh every time.**

**As I promised you guys I'm starting to upload the scenes as soon as I finish them and maybe that will give some frequent updates.**

**I hope that this time I haven't mixed up Colt's passionate/reckless way of battling with Neo's robot-like personality. I guess that I was somehow able to show that Colt is a type of trainer that likes to finish a battle quickly and if possible with a big boom; he's also somewhat reckless and he'll take any risk in order to his plan to succeed, not even worrying about the risks until it's too late. Sometimes, Colt reminds me of Ash, remembering some of his Gym battles.**

**The next updates will show us some action with our hot-heated char, Lyon, Colt will also finish his battle - hopefully a win :O and we'll also see what Neo and the some of the other chars have been doing.**


	7. Water Perverts

**A/N: Hey guys, a wild update appeared!**

**I wanted to apologize for being away from FF for so long, but unfortunately for me, I've been really busy with studies and I didn't have much free time or inspiration to write.**

**The story is still going don't worry(don't kill me D:), so I'll ask for your patience cuz' this story will surely move on, specially once I get some free time - for now, I got some chapters in draft format, which I'll try to deliver soon.**

**666funtimes: Damn, reading your review really made me happy, since that chapter where I messed up a bit of both chars. It's just like you said, Colt is very reckless and his love for battling is incredible, but that doesn't make him dumb xD When I think of Colt, I picture him being the older-bro type of char towards Neo since they complement each other really well. In fact, I think all the mains - and even some side chars - complement some chars really well. I'm glad you liked the battle and the way I described stuff and just as you wanted, we have a Lyon's chapter.**

**Big Bravo: Of course I'd use your char, she's great and it was really funny to write those scenes with our innocent Colt xD I'm glad you liked the way I used your char :D**

**sonofthetrigod: Haha! I think anyone would react that way towards Svetty xD she's way too flirty and as you said, Colt is just too innocent. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and the battle bro.**

**Ckbrothers: Well, I'm sure our heroes need to be extremely careful with Gym leaders :O we never know what our dear readers had in mind \\(^.^)/**

* * *

**Hoenn, Rustboro City, Lyon's POV**

As I sprinted towards the Gym, I was almost run over by a huge crowd of people exiting the orange-roofed building.

"Crap... Excuse me! Passing through!" I shouted as I tried not to bump into anyone, while cutting through the excited group of fans.

Barely managing to survive and gasping for air, I was able to make it into the entrance, where I noticed someone rushing towards me.

"Excuse me, sir!" A brown haired man dressed in a formal suit shouted, to get my attention. "We are closed for now. The Gym leader just finished her performance and she's taking a break..."

I thought he was probably confusing me for one of those water show perverts, so I tried to make my intentions clear. "No, you've got it wrong. I'm here to get a Gym Badge!" I announced confidently.

With this, the man's expression stiffened a bit and he said, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to try another time. The Gym leader is now resting before she starts her next performance-"

I clenched my fist as I tried my hardest to not explode at the man. This was supposed to be a Gym, and they were obligated to accept challengers instead of worrying about some stupid water show! Thankfully someone decided to interrupt the porter.

"It's okay, I'll handle this!" shouted a feminine voice.

Looking to my left, I noticed a young woman approaching us, with a towel in her hands. She was drying her long hair, which was light-green, thick, and wavy like some sort of aquatic plant.

I assumed she was the Gym leader because she was still dripping with water, probably from the performance earlier.

She wore a white summer dress over her athletic body. The dress was low-cut, revealing a bikini top.

Staring a bit too long, I jerked my eyes elsewhere in an effort to keep dirty thoughts out of my head. She was an incredibly beautiful woman and I think I could understand why they paid to watch her swim around.

"Francis, you can leave now, I'll show our young trainer to the arena," she said in a calm voice, smiling gently.

The man clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner and left the two of us, returning to his post.

"C'mon, follow me!" She said cheerfully, pointing towards the automatic doors from where she just come. She draped the towel around her neck and strode towards them confidently.

* * *

We were now facing the battle arena, the swimming pool with some floating platforms on it, _"Just like yesterday!"_ I thought to myself.

"My name is Kristel and I'm the Gym leader!" The woman announced, beaming warmly.

Her personality was so radiant that I almost found myself smiling at her without meaning to. "I-I'm Lyon and I'm here to challenge you for a Gym battle!" I proclaimed with confidence, trying to ignore the woman's warm personality and focus on the battle to come.

"You have confidence, that's nice!" She said, chuckling merrily at me. "But don't get too cocky! Just because yesterday someone exited this Gym victorious, I won't go easy on you." She suddenly switched to a serious, stern tone-but it vanished as fast as it had appeared, replaced with a smile.

I froze. Her split-second change in mood was unnerving, but she was right. I was being cocky, but I couldn't let that brat take the lead!

"Well, I just wanted to apologize in behalf of my assistant..." Kristel, said letting out a sigh, "As you can see, the League's personnel can be somewhat vicious when it comes to sales and they treat me and the others leaders as pawns for moneymaking."

Her mood swings reminded me of my mother, or, to be more exact, the times she had scolded me. One second she had this motherly aura around her, but once irritated she had no problem in expressing her anger, which was scary even for a guy as cool and strong as myself.

Nevertheless, I nodded after hearing the woman's rant. It wasn't like I didn't understand what she was saying, but right now there was only one thing on my mind: winning my first badge.

"Don't worry, it's fine. But thank god you appeared though! That Francis guy was getting on my nerves," I said, smirking, "So, can we battle or do I need to come back another time?" I wanted a direct answer.

As she finished tying up her hair, Kristel smiled and answered, "Of course, let's battle! You're probably a rookie like your friend from yesterday, right?"

I almost gagged at the word "friend" and answered immediately "Yes, I'm a new trainer. But that brat wasn't my friend!" It irritated me, being labeled as a "friend" of Neo's.

"Hehe! I'm sorry," The Gym leader said, letting out a joyful giggle. "That reaction tells me that you guys just need to settle your differences."

I was about to explode and tell the woman to stop meddling in my life, but she just continued talking, "Seel, come on out!"

As she shouted her command, the white water Pokémon emerged from bottom of the pool and rolled onto one of the platforms, as if it was performing a trick.

Kristel started to walk towards one of the edge of the pool and said, "C'mon, show me if you and your partner are worthy of a badge from my Gym!"

This was what I was waiting for. I held my anticipation as I fixed my jacket and felt my fauxhawk to make sure it was in place, then rushed to the other side of the pool and let out my Pokémon. "C'mon Ty, let's win this!"

As soon as the lights dimmed, my Tyrogue was on top of one of the blue platforms, already stretching his arms and punching the air energetically.

Despite only interacting with Ty once before this battle, I knew he was eager to prove himself. I like that quality of his, and his energetic attitude was pretty similar to my way of acting. I was sure that we would get along just fine.

"Let's start this, shall we?" The woman said and her gentle smile switched to her other, serious expression that just got me even more pumped for the battle.

"Ty, let's start this with a **Tackle**!" As soon as I gave my command, Tyrogue rushed towards Seel, using the platforms to jump and gain speed.

When he was near his target, Kristel shouted, "Seel! Roll over and counter it with a **Headbutt**!"

As if it was participating in a stupid Contest, Seel avoid the attack in a flashy, dance-like maneuver and launched itself headfirst towards Tyrogue.

Seeing that sharp horn getting closer to my Pokémon, I shouted, "Ty use **Fake Out** and follow up with a **Tackle**!"

Just before Seel was able to make contact with Ty, the fighting type clapped his hands together and released a beam of energy that made Seel flinch.

Taking advantage of the opening created by the first attack, Tyrogue ran towards the water type and tackled it, making his Seel fall into the pool.

Being a Gym battle, I knew that this wasn't over. I needed to pressure my opponent, attacking as much as I could.

On the other side of the pool, I noticed Kristel smirking as she said, "So you're the type that covers his weaknesses by attacking his opponent non-stop? The best defense is a good offense, is that your battle strategy?"

This wasn't good at all, she read through me in no time and since me and Ty were inexperienced there wasn't really a better plan. I gritted my teeth.

"Yeah, damn right! Ty and I will strike you down, right Ty?" I shouted back, trying to motivate my Pokémon, who seemed somewhat agitated.

"Seel, do one of your aerial spin and use **Growl**!" The water type appeared from underwater, and, while spinning artistically in the air, opened its mouth and let out a loud, piercing cry that distorted the air.

With this, Tyrogue's attack stat was brought down, meaning that I would need to attack that fancy dancing Pokémon a couple more times than I would have earlier.

"Ty, don't waste time and use **Tackle** while Seel's vulnerable!" Knowing that I was at a disadvantage now, I had to keep pressuring my opponent.

"Oh, no, you don't! Seel slow him down with **Icy Wind**!" The water type started to blow a beam of blue snow, freezing a good part of the arena and hitting Ty's knee, slowing down his movement.

"Stop Seel's attack with **Fake Out** and **Tackle** it!"

As the wind continued to blow, Tyrogue struggled to keep his balance on the platform. He clapped his hands once more, creating a wave of energy that negated Seel's attack.

Flinching from the **Fake Out**, the water Pokémon fell onto the icy field, taking some damage from the fall.

However, after the effect of the ice attack, Tyrogue's movement speed decreased and it took him more time to reach his opponent. This allowed Kristel to make her move first. "Seel, use **Headbutt**!"

The white Pokémon launched itself headfirst towards Ty and both of their attack collided, creating a smoke screen that settled down to show both sides gasping for air and with a good amount of bruises.

_"This is it... I have to use it!"_ I thought to myself, knowing that the next attack would probably decide the match winner.

"Tyrogue, use **High Jump Kick**!" I shouted as I decided to put all of my hopes on this last attack. After receiving Tyrogue, I found out that a fighting specialist that was trying to breed a stronger Hitmonlee had abandoned him. I was lucky that my Pokémon knew such an attack from the start, but it was a gambling move- if Tyrogue missed, he would take damage and I would lose.

I noticed that Kristel froze for a second, probably not guessing that I had such a powerful move on my disposal. However, she also shouted her last command of the battle, "Seel! Use **Heabutt** once again!"

As Tyrogue closed the gap between himself and Seel, he slowly lifted his knee and waited until the water type was close enough to launch himself in the air, striking his opponent right on its head.

Unfortunately for me, if Ty's speed hadn't lowered, he probably would have been able to strike Seel without taking damage from the **Headbutt** attack. But that horn hit my Pokémon as well.

After the impact, both Pokémon fall onto the platforms and seconds after, they passed out from exhaustion, meaning that this was a tie.

"That was surprising!" Kristel said cheefully as she recalled her Pokémon, making her way towards me.

Calling back Ty, I thanked him for his effort and agreed to her words, "Yeah that ice attack really messed up my battle strategy. That was lame..." I said, somewhat crestfallen, ashamed that I couldn't get a clean victory.

"Cheer up, you still managed to take out my Pokémon and that's a win in my book!" She extended her hand, offering me a Gym badge.

"Take it- you deserved it! Now you and your partner need to keep practicing. There will be Gym battles much tougher than this one, and in the future, you won't be able to get far by just attacking all-out." Her words and warm smile made me feel like I was being given advice by my mother, or older sister.

If it wasn't for her kind personality, I would probably have been angry by now, after hearing such comment, but I knew that she was right. "Thank you. Tyrogue and I will work harder in the future," I said, mimicking her smile and finally taking the Gym badge.

_"It wasn't the best outcome, but I still managed to catch up to you, Neo!"_ I thought to myself, finally giving in to the pride that I was feeling and regaining some of my confidence while looking at my first achievement as a trainer.


	8. Dumb Looking Duck

**A/N: Hey my fellow readers, a wild update appeared!**

**I'm finally back after this long break and for that I'm truly sorry. Adult life is really tough and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get anything done due to the overload of responsibilities (classes, tests, work, ...). **

**I'm slowly getting back to FF, trying to write whenever I have free time, but I've been noticing that I really I'm lacking some inspiration, because right now I'm working solo on my stories and I have to brainstorm on my own. Idk but I really feel like I need someone to at least discuss some ideas with me, maybe a co-author or something like that would be amazing, since my writing schedule is limited (PM if anyone reading this is interested).**

**Thank you so much for waiting three months for an update and don't worry cuz' I'm just finishing 2 more chapters that I'll post soon. Well, I hope you enjoy the chapter and once again thanks for all the PMs and reviews. If you're a new reader or simply want to submit another OC due to summer boredom, send me a PM and we'll talk about it :)**

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Normal POV**

Another sunny day in Hoenn marked the first day of Neo's journey. Despite how much he hated the weather, and his lack of enthusiasm in general, the purple-haired boy and his new traveling companion found themselves in Petalburg City early in the morning.

Only Arceus knew how annoyed Neo was that day, as soon as he set foot outside of his aunt's house.

His only wish had been to start his journey in a nice, cold region. Sinnoh would have been amazing. "Well, this wouldn't be a problem if my parents hadn't sent me away..." Neo mumbled to himself, his negative emotions displayed on his face.

Neo tried to eradicate the unhelpful thoughts, instead swinging the borrowed Good Rod back into the lake.

Unlike his best friend Colt, Neo decided that instead of rushing towards another Gym battle, it would be wiser to get some money first. Being a rookie, the chances of him finding an opponent that he could beat, at this moment, were pretty low.

Trainers who wanted to save some money for the rest of their journey usually tried to avoid losing their initial Poké Dollars in the Prize Money policy.

For this reason, Neo decided to take a request from a nearby restaurant to earn a bit extra. His goal was to catch twenty water Pokémon before the lunchtime.

He was provided with the proper gear, a rod and thirty Lure balls, to compensate for any missing catches.

So far, Neo was doing a great job and the required quantity was already half full.

As he waited for a Pokémon to take the bait, Neo felt Ralts, his starter, tugging at his sleeve to get his attention.

He turned to face her, noticing that the psychic Pokémon had a worried expression on her face. Neo patted his partner's head and said softly "I'm sorry for making you worry. I totally forgot you can read my emotions. And my thoughts, too, probably."

Ralts nodded, making her trainer understand that unlike other Pokémon, she was very sensitive to his mood changes. The reputation of Ralts being the "Feeling Pokémon" wasn't just for show.

"I'm fine, Ralts. Thanks," Neo reassured her, smiling sincerely, something that felt extremely new to him. Somehow he felt like she would always understand him, no matter how bad their interactions got.

Suddenly, Neo felt the Good Rod shake, clearly showing that it had hooked a Pokémon. "Get ready Ralts," Neo said calmly as his starter took a fighting stance, ready to immobilize the water type.

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Neo's POV**

I quickly pulled out the Good Rod from the water, only to reveal an idiotic-looking Psyduck. This was the second time I'd hooked it.

I sighed in annoyance as I threw the water Pokémon back into the lake.

The restaurant manager said I only needed to catch Magikarp and Goldeen, since those were the most common on this lake. I also remembered the cooks teasing me, saying that I would get extra for every Corphish I caught.

Of course this was almost impossible since they were so rare around here.

Apparently, there was also a Psyduck in this lake and for some reason it seemed like it really enjoyed getting hooked on my fishing rod.

I heard a lighthearted laugh coming from behind me. I turned around, surprised to see Kori there, wearing her blue swimsuit.

Honestly, I thought she'd abandoned because I was a crappy traveling companion, but apparently taking half an hour to change clothes was normal for females.

Ralts looked at me and shook her head in disapproval. I was reminded of Ralts's empathic abilities again.

"I took so long, I'm sorry. Totodile kept pestering me," She said, regarding the starter Pokémon she was holding on her arms. I stopped myself from grinning and waved off her worries.

"Why don't you capture that Psyduck?" Kori wondered out loud.

I shrugged and said, "They won't pay for it."

Just before adding some more valid points to why I shouldn't catch that Pokémon, Kori spoke. "Well, it's not a psychic Pokémon, but it does have "Psy" in the name and it learns good attacks."

She was right, but I still didn't want to accept it. I wanted to be a psychic specialist. I only wanted to train this type specifically. Why should I capture anything else?

Leaving me to my thoughts, Kori and her two Pokémon, Totodile and Spheal, went for a swim in the lake on the other side, away from my fishing spot. Apparently the round Pokémon had gotten extremely attached to Kori during her time in the Gym and decided to come with her.

I readied the Good Rod, but before I swung it again, I was hit in the face by a stream of water.

I raised an arm to dry my face and hide my surprise, thinking that Kori was the one who did it, playing around with her Pokémon.

I looked to see Kori and Ralts staring at me with puzzled expressions while a dumb-looking duck atop a rock laughed heartily.

"Neo, are you ok?" My friend shouted as she started swimming towards me. "It seems that this one's taken a liking to you."

Was Kori trying to make a joke? That Psyduck obviously didn't like me at all. But soon I would be the one laughing, because right now I was really pissed.

"Ralts, are you ready?" I asked my partner calmly, finally focusing on shutting down the cackling duck.

Ralts nodded and our battle started. "Use **Confusion** and send it for a swim!" Her red horns started to glow blue and using her telekinetic power she sent the cocky Psyduck flying headfirst into the lake.

I couldn't help but grin at my little bit of revenge. I knew I was being prideful and this attack wouldn't be enough to end the battle, though.

Emerging from the lake, Psyduck took aim and released a spiral of water from its beak.

For a second I froze. A wild Psyduck wouldn't know how to use **Water Gun** like this. It looked like this attack had taken training to look perfect, something that a Contest participant would do.

"**Teleport**, Ralts," I commanded, getting back into the battle.

As soon as Ralts landed some feet away from her original spot, Psyduck swam towards land, probably looking to catch her unprepared.

This Pokémon had battle experience. Psyduck had been released by its previous owner, which would explain the mystery of its appearance in this lake, where it didn't belong.

Despite having skill and experience, Psyduck couldn't beat us. "Ralts, wait for Psyduck, and once it's close enough, use **Disarming Voice**."

Sprinting it's way towards Ralts, Psyduck extended its claws, ready to use **Scratch**.

Just before the attack hit Ralts, she let out a loud shriek, releasing energy that made Psyduck stop in its tracks.

Distracted by the sudden noise, this was the perfect moment to end the battle. "Ralts, finish it with **Confusion**!"

As the psychic waves hit the duck and disoriented it even more, I picked one of the borrowed Lure Balls and threw it.

The Poké ball shook once, twice and the Psyduck finally gave up. I had just caught it.

"Congratulations, Neo! I think you really should keep it!" Kori said enthusiastically, as she clapped for my achievement.

I was about to say that I had no intention of keeping this Pokémon when a new voice joined our little chat. "Nice catch! That Psyduck seemed pretty strong, definitely worth keeping!"

I turned around to face a tall, dark-haired guy wearing a navy blue hoodie and khaki jeans. Somehow, just his stance gave me the impression that I was talking to someone really experienced.

My suspicions were correct, now that I had noticed the chain necklace he was wearing. The pendant, in a shape of a treble clef, had a Key Stone in the bottom spiral.

He noticed me staring at his Key Stone and gave me a confident smile, introducing himself. "I'm sorry for being nosy. My name is Oliver and I'm somewhat lost."

As he scratched his head embarrassedly, he showed us his Holo Caster which was had a flashing "No Signal" message. I concluded that he was from Kalos.

"Do you think you can direct me to the nearest Poké Mart?"

"I'm Korianne and this is Neo, nice to meet you." Kori decided to introduce both of us, breaking the ice and saving me from looking awkward. "Sure we can help you, right Neo?" Kori offered to help without hesitation. She was definitely a good-hearted person.

Instead of answering, I started to use my Xtransceiver and a message popped up on Oliver's gadget. "Accept the connection. I'm sending you a detailed map of the Hoenn region."

For some reason, both Kori and Oliver seemed to be astonished. Oliver quickly accepted the incoming file and as soon as he received it, he noticed that he could access the map function once again.

"Wow! That was amazing Neo. I didn't know that you could share stuff through different type of devices," Kori said, rather impressed with the new information.

Oliver cracked a discrete laugh and said, "Thank you so much Neo. You just saved me from having to use a paper map for the rest of this journey."

I nodded and instantly, Oliver offered me a handshake.

I shook his hand. "By checking your training card I saw that you are aiming to be a psychic specialist, but that doesn't mean you only have to focus on training Pokémon of that specific type."

He paused, and eventually let go of my hand, before continuing, "There are plenty of Pokémon out there that are not labeled as psychic, but still have an enormous potential with moves of that type. For example, you can use Psyduck to fend against the dark type weaknesses in your team, making sure that it still learns the psychic attacks that you love so much."

He was right. Maybe I was being too arrogant and a little bit childish for wanting to ignore Psyduck, just because of it's type.

"You're right. I will keep this Pokémon and raise it properly," I said decisively, finally giving up on my stupid pride. "Thanks for the advice, Oliver."

He winked and gave us a charismatic smile, "Anytime, Neo! Well, it was really nice to meet you guys, and I hope to see you soon in this City's Gym." He said, bidding his farewell and walking off to find the Mart, keeping his map up and constantly checking it.

Well, he was interesting. And somehow I could sense that he was at Colt's level. He gave me the vibe of being a good mentor, his knowledge and attitude towards Pokémon were also inspiring.

I was glad I had started travelling. There was so much to see and to learn from people. This journey just kept getting more and more interesting.


	9. Long Journey Ahead

**A/N: Hey guys, a new chapter incoming!**

**First of all, I wanted to apologize for not uploading this month, but I was away on a vacation and unfortunately for me I had no access to internet (which sucks D:).**

**Well, now answering you guys:**

**sonofthetrigod: Thanks bud, I know exactly what you mean and I'm glad u understand it xD Yeah the previous chapter had an EPIC tittle.**

**Korianne: Kori I'm glad you are hyped for more chapters, cuz the good part is only starting ^^**

**Legacy918: Yeah, exactly what I had in mind for the previous chapter, you my sir just explained it all. It's my pleasure to have ur OC and as always keep up the good work.**

**RagingKoopatroopa: Rage, thanks a lot bud, you are a life saver.**

**666funtimes: Yeah funtimes, I know exactly what you meant, but I decided to take the opportunity to let Oliver teach Neo an important lesson. I guess that I just wanted to show that he was not the usual stoic OP char, but a normal human who struggles even with the small stuff.**

**Remvis: And I'm glad to have u read my work!**

**Tatopatato: I hope it was a happy face xD Well I hope u enjoyed it.**

**Well thanks for all the support guys and as always forgive me for not being more active, but I do plan on continuing this story, so be patient and enjoy the show.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy and if you guys are still with me on this one lemme know!**

**PS: I'm still accepting OC's, Pm me for more info and I will be glad to read your suggestions/ideas.**

**Spoiler alert: I just CAN'T maintain a straight face while writing Colt's reaction towards Svet, it's just priceless!**

* * *

**Hoenn, Petalburg City, Colt's POV**

Right now, the battle wasn't going in my favor. The humongous steel type had turned out to be a way tougher opponent than I'd expected.

Svetlana stood on the opposite side of the field, smirking confidently. "Keep this up, Vasili!" Her Pokémon roared in response, and I flinched, intimidated.

This was definitely one of the strongest Aggron I had ever seen, and to make things worse, my Dragonair was in pretty bad shape. The damn tank took a couple of super effective moves like **Aqua Tail** and **Flamethrower**, but they barely left a scratch.

Its defenses were amazing. Svetlana kept it going strong with a combination of **Protect** and **Iron Defense**. To worsen the situation, the huge beast also knew **Dragon Claw**. What were the chances?

I sighed internally as I tried to remain focused. I won't panic. "Dragonair, use **Thunder Wave** and cripple that thing!"

Despite being close to fainting, Dragonair straightened up and released a blue stream of electricity from his horn.

"Vasili, finish it up with **Rock Slide**!" Svetlana shouted, hoping to stop my Pokémon's attack before I could paralyze Aggron.

Fortunately for me, Dragonair's attack connected, and the electricity began to wrap around Vasili like a rope. However, my luck didn't hold for long. The **Thunder Wave** hit its mark, but hadn't stopped my opponent's attack.

The Gym leader's Pokémon started to glow white and multiple rings of energy appeared above and around it. Soon after, several large grey boulders began to rain from the ripples of energy, and Dragonair was right beneath them.

"Try to dodge it!" I shouted as soon as I noticed, but I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Dragonair was already moving slowly due to the damage he had sustained. He managed to float around one, then two boulders, but the third landed a direct hit that sent my Pokémon crashing into the ground

_"Hang in there, please!"_ I prayed to myself, as Dragonair struggled to get up. Picking up Dragonair's Poké Ball, I called him back and announced in a defeated tone, "Dragonair's out of the battle."

"That's very honorable of you, Colt. You keep impressing me!" The black haired Gym leader said, smiling with such honesty that I began to feel a little better about myself.

I couldn't watch my Pokémon struggle anymore; he deserved a good rest. I just did what was right. Now, I really had some tough choices ahead.

Slapping my cheeks softly to re-focus, I pulled out Gyarados' Poké Ball, deciding on the spot that it would be better to face this weakened Pokémon with my leftovers.

Of course, my own Pokémon was in bad shape. One good hit and Gyarados would also be out of this battle, but for now I would take my chances and bet on using the non-switching Pokémon rule against Svetlana.

"Come out, Gyarados!" Once again, I called my water Pokémon and as always she immediately sent out an intimidating roar, which I never understood. She normally had such a docile nature.

Aggron was pretty much unfazed by the taunting. Even after taking so much damage, the iron giant still looked very threatening. Now, the outcome of this battle would depend on how lucky I am.

If Aggron's paralysis kicked in, I'd win this badge easily. If not, I'm doomed.

Letting out a tense sigh, I decided to go on the offensive. "Gyarados, get close to Aggron and use **Aqua Tail**!" I noticed Svetlana showing some type of anxiety by tapping her foot. She also seemed to know that luck would decide the winner between these two Pokémon.

"Vasili, use **Rock Slide** again!" The flirty Gym leader decided to use one of her strongest rock moves again, which would also be super effective against my Gyarados.

As Gyarados kept closing the gap between our opponent, Aggron started to glow white, but this time the steel beast fell into one knee and the stones didn't materialize.

I noticed its body sparking faintly with electricity. This time I'd managed to prevent the attack. The risky Thunder Wave strategy worked.

"Get up, Aggron, and use **Iron Tail**!" Svetlana shouted, but Gyarados kept coming closer and Aggron was still immobile. My water Pokémon's tail became encompassed in a stream of liquid, which spiraled around it as she started to whip it back and forth wildly.

As her tail was about to slam against the steel tank, Aggron managed to get up and its tail started to glow white, spinning around, trying to inflict damage against Gyarados while blocking her attack.

The two tail attacks collided, sending a huge blast of sand that obscured the Pokémon. Coughing and trying to get the sand out of my eyes, I managed to catch a glimpse of Gyarados, and she was still standing tall. Or floating, rather.

As the dust calmed down, I saw Aggron lying on its belly, unconscious, and for a moment I grinned. _"I made it!"_ I thought to myself, trying to calm down and internalize everything that just happened.

Svetlana called back her Pokémon. I turned to congratulate my Gyarados, but the burn effect took its toll on her body and she slowly fell to the ground as well.

"That was the most intense one-hit battle I've ever had," Svetlana exclaimed, laughing with joy from the other side of the arena.

I called back my Pokémon. I had to admit that she was right. "It was pretty awesome! Your Aggron was simply too strong."

"Well, now it's a one on one battle... Are you ready?!" she called, throwing out her last Pokémon, an agile-looking Excadrill.

Picking up a Poké Ball from my belt, I called out my Charmeleon. The cocky lizard stretched out his limbs, and, as always, used a **Flamethrower** attack to show off.

"Ooh~ a fiery one, I see!" Svetlana said, her flirty tone becoming very apparent.

"He sure is! Charmeleon, let's show them the real power of your **Flamethrower**!" I commanded and the lizard immediately released a red-orange stream of fire from his mouth.

I had the advantage for this last encounter, but I knew this battle wouldn't be over in just one attack.

"Mole, use **Dig** to avoid the attack!" Svetlana commanded, and immediately Excadrill jumped into the air, putting its arms up by its head, forming its body into a drill. The furry, brown Pokémon then started to quickly rotate its body drilled its way into the ground.

Soon after, the ground behind Charmeleon started to shake and Excadrill popped up underneath and stabbed him with the tip of its drill. It all happened so fast that I was in shock. This _mole_ was way too fast, I couldn't even manage to command Charmeleon to avoid the attack.

"Hehe! Already impressed by Mole's skills?" Svetlana boasted, proud of her beloved mole-like Pokémon.

"You see..." She said, continuing her rambling, "Mole and I trained really hard with Norman, and, in order to beat his Slaking, we really had to level up our speed and attack!" So, Neo's story about her training with the former Gym leader was true. _"__Dear Arceus, this match is going to be close.__"_ I thought to myself.

"Well, I'm really impressed, but Charmeleon and I need this win!" I shouted back, interrupting the gym leader's monologue.

"Charmeleon, get close and use **Fire Fang**!" As Charmeleon sprinted towards Excadrill, a bright red-orange fire covered his mouth, his large fangs flashing.

"Mole, keep them away using **Slash**!" Excadrill's claws started to glow white on both of its hands, and it took a defensive stance, awaiting our attack.

When Charmeleon was close enough to bite the enemy, Excadrill extended its left claw and took the hit. The fire attack released some sparks as Charmeleon bit straight into the strengthened claw.

In an instant, the steel type shoved away my Pokémon with its right arm. The Slash attack didn't do much in terms of damage, but it also nullified our move.

Trying to catch Svetlana by surprise, I shouted, "Charmeleon, back away and use **Flamethrower**!" The orange lizard stepped back and once again shot out his powerful fire stream at the opponent.

Sensing the danger, Svetlana also made a move. "Mole, use **Sandstorm** and vanish!" Excadrill crossed its arms and spun around counter-clockwise, whipping up a Sandstorm.

So, she was planning to use the dust to confuse Charmeleon and avoid his attack. However, the way she phrased that sounded like there was something else in store.

Despite being affected by the Sandstorm, Charmeleon still managed to fire his attack, but Svetlana's strategy was now kicking in and the sandstorm made it impossible to see what happened.

As the Sandstorm began to subside, Excadrill was nowhere to be seen. That was when I realized what was about to happen.

"Charmeleon be caref-" The shockwave interrupted my warning as the ground below my Pokémon started to shake and Excadrill's claws slashed him, sending Charmeleon flying backwards from the impact.

Svetlana had just used a combo, using the **Sandstorm** and the powerful **Dig** attack, which was super effective against my fire type. Charmeleon was still struggling on the ground, but it didn't look like he was going to be able to get up.

"Please get up, Charmeleon!" I begged, afraid of losing this battle. "C'mon buddy, we're stronger than this; get up!"

"It appears that this battle's over!" Svetlana announced while chuckling jovially.

As I was about to admit defeat, Charmeleon's body started to glow white and he began to change shape. I gaped and thanked Arceus for this little miracle. Charmeleon was evolving and now we were back in the game.

As the light died out, Charizard was now standing in front of me, roaring loudly as he stretched his wings. "Ooh~ that's surprising!" Svetlana said, as she began waiting attentively for my move.

I smirked confidently as I reached the conclusion that with this evolution, her ground attacks wouldn't affect me anymore, as Charizard was now a flying type.

"Charizard, get close and use **Flamethrower**!" The lizard took off, trying to get a better shot at Excadrill.

"Mole, use **Dig** to avoid that!" Once again she was going on the defensive and now was my chance to finish this battle. The Excadrill waited for Charizard's attack, so it could escape underground, but that was the last time this worked.

"Charizard shoot a **Flamethrower** into the hole!" This would force our opponent out of its hiding. Excadrill quickly dug its way out of the ground, its body showing some burns.

_"__Just perfect!__"_ I thought to myself as I came up with an idea to finish this. "Charizard use **Flare Blitz**, full speed!"

Still flying, Charizard's body started to envelop in light red fire with orange streaks circling around it, and he charged at the opponent with astounding speed. Surprised by my bold move, Svetlana quickly ordered, "Mole, use **Drill Run **and try to hold their attack!"

Now Svetlana was seriously overestimating her Pokémon's defense. Charizard's attack was going to be super effective, there was no way she could stop this with a steel move.

Excadrill jumped into the air, holding out its arms. It then started to spin its body rapidly, diving towards Charizard. As my fire type kept flying, engulfed in flames, the two Pokémon collided, once again spawning a dust cloud impossible to see through.

Once vision was back, I saw Excadrill lying on the ground, unconscious, and Charizard panting hard, on one knee. Svetlana started smiling and called back her Pokémon.

She started to walk towards me, clapping her hands as she praised me and my Pokémons' victory, "You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

Removing something from her pocket, the Gym leader grabbed my hand, handing me a small badge. "You deserved it. It was an amazing battle!" I smiled proudly as I took a closer look at the badge that I'd just earned.

It was smaller and lighter than I remembered, but that was probably due to my state of pure happiness. The small metal gear badge was my first badge in this region and this definitely felt like an amazing feat, especially after such an intense battle.

"Thank you so much, Svetlana! You were really hard to beat!" I admitted, though hoping my compliments wouldn't trigger her playful side.

The woman got dangerously close to me in an instant, throwing one arm over my shoulder as she whispered in my ear seductively. "Ehh, are you flirting with me, Mr. Colt?"

I shuddered, fearing her intentions as she continued, "If you keep being a sweetheart, I might have to keep you here with me as my pupil..." Was she teasing me? To me, she sounded dead serious, which was a very alarming thought.

Waving off the woman I said, "Hmmm... thanks, but no thanks, Svetlana!" Backing off from her Ursaring grip, I bid farewell to the crazy woman. "B-bye Svetlana, gotta' go! Long journey ahead..." My eyes darted around, looking for the nearest exit.

_"Arceus, help me please!"_ I prayed to myself quietly as I ran outside, still hearing Svetlana laughing loudly at the awkwardness she'd caused.


	10. The Meeting

**A/N: Hey guys, a wild update appeared!**

**Answers:**

**sonofthetrigod: Ikr, I totally understand Colt's awkwardness xD Svet is just too much to handle. Shhh! No1 noticed it :X Haha yeah I know Drill Run is a ground move, but when compared to Flare Blitz I thought it was the deadliest attack to face an incoming Charizard xD**

**RagingKoopatroopa: Rage, there's no stopping this train!**

**Tatopatato: Thanks bud, let's keep this story going!**

**Nebula: U're back bro :D**

**Big Bravo: Thank you ! I'm glad you liked how I portrayed your char :D And yes, he was very lucky. **

**Well, this chapter is a little flashback to explain you guys some plot stuff that I've been hinting from the start.**

**For those who don't know about the games/manga characters, please open an internet tab and search every name and thing you don't know about this chapter is based on the original series.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy and please leave me some love on the way out!**

**If you enjoy Magi, please check ****ArtGenius04's story: Swindler. This author is a new friend of mine and for someone who loves Magi very much, I really enjoyed her little one-shot and I feel like that story didn't received enough feedback cuz' it's not a Yaoi smut kind of story.**

**Don't take me wrong, I'm not homophobic, but it pisses me off that the new trend in SnK and many other good series is lemons with guys! I simply can't take anymore Eren x Levi BS cuz' for me it doesn't make any sense.**

**PS: I'm still accepting OC's, Pm me for more info and I will be glad to read your suggestions/ideas.**

* * *

** Saffron City, a year ago, Normal POV**

Saffron was once a calm city, but nowadays it was a sprawling metropolis. Through the years, it became one of the busiest and most known cities around the world.

Being one of the most populated areas, Saffron also had some important names that helped achieve its greatness. For example, the large Silph Co. headquarters was located right in the middle of Saffron. Silph Co., known for being the leading manufacturer of Pokémon technology throughout the world, and a producer of a large variety of goods for Trainers.

However, the monopolistic company was only a part of the city's charm. Saffron also holds the region's largest infrastructure: the Magnet Train station, which allows ease of access between Kanto, Johto, and most recently other regions like Hoenn, Almia and Sinnoh.

The city was also home to one of the most controversial actresses and Gym leaders of all time. Her name was Sabrina.

The Mistress of Psychic Pokémon was both loved and hated by the masses. The known ex-villain from Team Rocket was never punished for her wrong doings and, unlike her two partners in crime Koga and Lt. Surge, she decided not to give up on her position as the city's Gym leader.

Of course, there were some trainers and various powerful people who tried to replace her, but over twenty years later, Sabrina still holds her position and reputation as one of the strongest Psychic type specialists.

On another note, there was also a small building that stood right next to Sabrina's Gym. After being dethroned by the Psychic user, the old Gym became home to a Fighting Dojo, and later a place where elite trainers would meet to battle each other for fun.

Some years later, Sabrina once again tried to bring down the building in order to upgrade her facilities, but there was a certain red headed man that decided to confront her.

After his long year of training with Lance and the other dragon experts, Silver found this Dojo becoming his home, a place where he could meet his fellow Dex Holders and simply have a good time.

This man decided to use his small fortune to buy this building and secure its existence. Of course, some of his friends decided to back him up and help him with this investment.

Not only did he keep the old battling arena there, but he also built some floors, which were now known to hold various labs, large training facilities, and numerous other rooms equipped with highly advanced tech.

Silver's closest friends knew that this wasn't just him being crazy, spending some million Poké Dollars just to build a fancy building. This was the doing of a man who once wasn't strong enough to stop his own father from almost taking Johto under his rule.

Driven by his will to stop other criminals or other villainous groups, Silver decided that he would create an organization that would help others and at the same time cleanse his family name. On that day, Neo Rocket organization was born.

Despite the controversy with the team's name, leader, and some of its members, the following years were proof that this organization had a huge impact on the stability of the safety of everyone around the world.

Working together with his fellow Dex Holders and many other big names like the Pokémon Rangers and the International Police, Silver and his team gained some credibility and power, but nowhere near the influence that the League still holds.

Speaking of Silver, the red haired man was now sitting in large meeting room, facing a round table. He kept checking his wrist watch while impatiently waiting for his guests.

Just before checking his watch once again, an energetic and noisy figure erupted through the main door with little to no manners.

In Silver's head, this description fit perfectly his best friend Ethan, known to most people as Gold.

"I'm home Silver! Did you miss me, buddy?" The black haired man teased childishly, which didn't really show that he was in his late thirties.

Silver sighed in annoyance, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say man."

To this, Ethan simply smirked, taking the seat right next to his friend. Sometimes, Silver wondered how the two of them could have become such good friends, for they were simply too different.

"So... How's life?" Ethan decided to break the silence. Silver gave him an annoyed glare. This man surely couldn't read the heavy mood.

"How's Neo doing?" The black haired man asked, his eyes shining with curiosity. He loved to spoil his godson.

"What about Sabrina? Ohh~ By the way, you _really _look horrible! You need to start living more and working less." Ethan said, bombarding his friend with his unwanted comments.

Supporting his head with his hand, Silver tried to find the strength to satisfy his friend's curiosity, "Neo is doing okay, I think... And stop asking about Sabrina you know that she hates my guts. It was all a mistake" The red haired man said, mumbling the last sentence, but his best friend knew it all.

Gold gave him a knowing look and he clicked his tongue in annoyance. He really hated the fact that Silver simply didn't know how to act towards Neo, and the fact that he kept calling him a mistake annoyed Ethan immensely.

Indeed, what he and Sabrina did was all a mistake caused by two souls in pain and a night with too much alcohol. It was soon after Giovanni's death that these two found each other grieving in a Saffron bar.

The rivalry and hatred that these two had towards each other kept decreasing as the night went on, helped by the many beers and the small talk that both of them shared about the deceased man.

One thing led to another and the two adults found themselves waking up in the same bed. Once the hangover was over, the two of them realized their mistake, and both of them agreed to go back to what it was like before that night.

Well, not entirely though. Silver had ruined his long relationship with Lyra and a couple of months later, Sabrina returned with some bad news: she was pregnant.

Neither of them wanted the child, but Silver decided that the infant wasn't the one to blame. So, the right thing to do was to take responsibility, and that's how Neo was born.

Sighing in a mixture of sadness and bitterness, Silver continued, "And don't worry, I'm fine. It's just that work has been keeping me awake, and there are simply too many things going on." He confessed.

Different from his previous reaction, Ethan gave his friend a sympathetic smile, "Yeah, I know it's tough... I'm sorry that I haven't been around that much. But still, you have to pay more attention to your kid!"

Silver laughed at his scolding. Yes, he was right, and there was no doubt that Silver chose the best godfather and friend possible.

Unfortunately for Silver, he had only recently started to comprehend the concept of family. He had always looked up to Green as a sister figure, but now he also had to figure how to interact with Ariana, Mars, and, of course, his son.

Looking at his best friend, Ethan started smiling mischievously, "Guess who's back to our little New Bark Town?" To this, Silver simply shrugged his shoulders, not really in the mood to play into his friend's hands.

"Lyra returned from Sinnoh…" Ethan said vaguely, but this was enough to made Silver react in a way that was weird to anyone he wasn't close to. His face started to show many emotions, the most noticeable one being his surprise.

Despite being on a roller coaster of emotions, Silver tried to stay composed, waiting for Ethan to continue rubbing salt on the wound, which he did without hesitation.

"Guess what again?" Ethan teased once more, this time adding a makeshift drumroll, made by his hands beating on the table, causing Silver an immense amount of irritation.

Noticing Silver's expression revert back to its old angry look, Ethan said in a singing tone, "She's back, but she's not alone~!"

Hearing this made Silver want to punch his friend for messing with his feelings, but he decided against it.

"So what? I know that she's probably been dating that cousin of yours... Tobby or whatever!" Silver said, enraged by all this.

Ethan let out a joyful laugh, which made Silver click his tongue in annoyance.

"No, this is not about Jimmy, man!" Ethan laughed, trying to calm down and find the right words, "In fact, he and Lyra were never a thing!" He failed to do so.

Silver was now confused, but his friend continued, "I heard Lyra and Kris talking, and it seems like she said that just to hurt you. I never knew you were the jealous type though! Good to know." Ethan couldn't get any more irritant, but he was never one to joke with serious matters. What he said was the truth.

"So, what?" Silver's couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. Ethan smirked, "She brought a teenage girl back with her. Hmm... Maybe a year older than Neo."

"What?" Silver was seriously confused. _"Lyra brought a younger girl back with her? No! This isn't making any sense. She would never be so irresponsible."_ Silver tried to solve this mystery.

He knew if this girl was simply an assistant or friend, there was no way Ethan would be teasing him about it.

One thing came to his mind: she was her daughter. Silver's expression changed to one that showed only shock and fear.

Noticing his friend's reaction, Ethan started nodding his head, "Yeah... She brought back a full grown up daughter, and no, she's not adopted."

Silver was now supporting his head on his palms. "I-Is she..." He struggled to finish the sentence.

Once again, Ethan nodded, "Yeah, I'm afraid so..." Silver stayed quiet, "Apparently Kris knew from the beginning, but I swear I didn't know anything, man! You know how those two sisters are…"

Unfortunately, it seemed like Silver and Ethan didn't know them well enough, and both of them still wondered how they could have hidden something this important for so long.

"Is she- I mean... Is she my kid?" Silver asked, a terrified look planted on his face, not wanting to face his friend.

Ethan nodded, "Yes, I'm sure she is. I heard Lyra saying that she wanted to talk with you about this... It seems like the girl figured out what's going on and really wanted to meet you."

Silver let out a deep sigh. He was already doing a poor job of being a father to his lonely son and, from out of nowhere, he just found out that he also had a daughter.

"Haha! Well, congratulations man. I mean, you are once again a father, albeit terrible one." The black haired man said, trying to lighten the mood, gaining an irritated huff from Silver.

Before Ethan could annoy his friend any further, the office's main doors opened again, and three figures entered.

"...Yo..." The first man said, while taking off his long, furry, snow-covered coat. This man's name was Red, and he was known for being the strongest of the Dex Holders.

The black haired man with red eyes quickly took a sit, only nodding his head towards his fellow trainers. For outsiders, it seemed like Red and the others were complete strangers merely greeting each other, but everyone who knew this man was already used to his blank personality.

Following Red, was his most trusted friend and longtime rival, Blue dressed in a casual outfit, except for the white lab coat that he was wearing over it.

The former Champion and Gym leader of Kanto had recently taken over the position of his deceased grandfather, the well-known Professor Oak.

"Hey guys, it's been a long time." Blue said casually, finishing with his usual smirk, which his friends labeled as the "lady-killer" move.

Silver and Ethan acknowledged both of their older friends, but before they could even try to talk with either of them, Silver received a Tackle from behind, almost sending him flying.

The culprit of the attack was Green, and she was still holding Silver's chair as she tried to hug the man, much to his discomfort.

"What did you do to him, Gold?" The brown haired woman said, ignoring any type of greeting. "Look at him! He's already bored or mad... What did you do this time?"

Getting closer to Silver's face, Green tried to figure out what was going on as she affectionately caressed the man's head.

"It's nothing, Green. Ethan just annoyed me a bit." Silver said, trying to make the woman leave his personal space.

Green puffed her cheeks in annoyance, thinking how such a sweet child could turn into to such a cold hearted man. Back then, Silver always followed her everywhere like a little brother, now he wouldn't even be honest with her.

Before she could interact with the red haired man, her husband, Blue, signaled for her to just sit and leave Silver alone.

Still not fully satisfied with the situation, Green decided to leave her little brother alone for now. Of course she knew that when he was mad, there was no way he would share anything with her anyways.

Red simply watched all of this with an amused smile on his face. He surely missed how noisy his friends were when they were together.

Unfortunately for Silver, his big mouthed best friend decided to talk. "You guys won't believe this!" He said with enthusiasm.

"Silver just found out- argh!" Ethan was interrupted by Silver's foot, which was forcefully planted atop his own. The red haired man gave him a death glare, which was clearly a warning for him to stay quiet.

Noticing that the other three were eyeing the duo with confused and intrigued looks, laughing a bit sheepishly, Ethan continued, "I-I mean... He discovered something crazy going on in Johto, right?" He finished, returning the favor by kicking his friend's leg from underneath the round table.

Glaring at Ethan, the red haired said, "Yeah, Mr. Obvious. Thank you so much for clarifying... We all know that, that's why we're meeting."

The other three could only chuckle at the behavior of the younger duo. Silver sighed in relief, and this time Ethan's stupidity had just saved him from an awkward situation.

Soon after the laughter stopped, the door to the office opened once again and two females joined the other Dex holders.

"Hey, seniors! It's been a long time!" The first woman said jovially. The short haired brunette's name was May, also known as Sapphire.

Right next to the energetic woman stood a brunette dressed in a formal red dress, "Good morning guys, it's nice to see you all." The woman known as Dawn said calmly, bowing her head in respect towards her friends.

As the new guests took their seats and traded greetings with the others, Ethan's curiosity took the best of him, "Where's your husband, _wildchild_ woman?"

Hearing the stupid nickname of their teen's time, May's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "Unfortunately, Brendan got held up by a Contest meeting. He said he'll join us later, so thank you for worrying, Gold nugget."

Hearing those two trade blows made everyone laugh. However, Silver needed to tone down everyone's excitement, "So, it seems that everyone who could make it is present. Let's get down to business, then."

Silver's serious tone ceased the fooling around of the others, but at the time, they looked confused. "What about the others? The guys from Unova and Kalos?" Green asked curiously.

Everyone looked around, sharing looks of sadness. This was one of the first meetings where so few of them decided to show up.

"Well, as May said, Brendan was busy, being one of the persons behind the Pokémon Contests." Silver started to explain.

"Hilbert and Hilda are still on vacation and Rosa is filling their absence in the BW Agency." The red haired man paused for a breath.

"Yvonne couldn't book a flight for today. Calem and Nate were sent on a mission with Looker on International Police affairs." The man in charge of the meeting concluded, finally answering the curious thoughts of his childhood friend, Green.

The Dex holders in the room looked at each other with understanding gazes. Sighing, Ethan said, "Lyra just returned from Sinnoh and she's now at our home spending some time with Kris and Yellow."

As the black haired man said this, the stoic man known as Red nodded in agreement, knowing clearly the whereabouts of his wife, Yellow.

"If I may" Dawn said shyly, making the others chuckle at her excessive rules of etiquette. They all knew that she was raised in very strict manner, and being an important figure in Sinnoh, this had become her way of acting, even with her friends.

"Dia and- I mean, Lucas and Barry are also busy with their shows and couldn't get any spare time." Once again, Dawn said seriously, letting escape a hint of fondness towards her loved one, Lucas.

The brunette's seriousness made the group of friends laugh, the tension and sadness finally vanishing. "So Silver, tell us about the situation." Blue Oak said, a glint of curiosity gleaming from his green orbs.

Not wanting to waste more time, Silver pulled out a paper sheet and put it on the center of the round table. "Here, check that out."

As the others picked up the sheet and analyzed it, Silver continued, "Our scientists picked up a strange energy signal coming from Ilex Forest. Looker's specialists detected it as well, and it seems like it's probably a distortion of time."

Everyone seemed shocked at first, but after a short tense silence, the group started to share their opinions with each other.

Blue Oak, being a fairly new Professor, had a hunch, "Is this Celebi using its time traveling power? I mean, even though the Legendaries are missing, this can only be its doing."

Managing to grab everyone's attention, Silver continued, "We don't know for sure. There are been people who have entered the forest, and they all simply disappeared. Along with that, there have been reports of an armed group attacking locals.

"So that's where we come in, right?" May said enthusiastically, probably feeling bored with the lack of action in the last couple of years. It wasn't like her, or the others as a matter of fact, to wish for destruction and crime to resurge, they simply missed their active days of defending the world on the front lines.

"Exactly!" Silver said, thanking May for clarifying his intentions. "I wanted to ask some of you guys to group up and investigate what's happening."

The group of friends traded some glances and Red, for once, decided to speak up, "I can go..."

Despite lacking expression, it was clear to everyone that Red was hoping to get some action and prove once again why he was one of the strongest Pokémon trainers.

"I can go as well!" May said enthusiastically, "Oh and I forgot to tell you guys, but Brendan told me that he wanted in too... Dealing with all the contests is tiresome and he wanted a break."

Silver nodded, "Yeah, that's good, maybe one more and we can start the operation." Looking around, the red haired man found his friends having a hard time expressing their will.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't make it." Dawn said, "As much as I want to go and help, my responsibilities as the head of the Berlitz family cost me much of my free time. I also have to be ready to accept any challengers that come to the Battle Castle."

Everyone knew that Dawn wasn't just making excuses. Her family was really wealthy and she was one of the League's pillars to keep the balance in Sinnoh. She also had decided to take the post of Frontier Brain that was once owned by Caitlin, the specialist in psychic Pokémon that had moved to Unova.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I can't make it." Blue said apologetically, "I'm the main Professor in Kanto, and I'm responsible for the ranch and storage of many Pokémon."

"Since Yellow isn't home, I also can't go." Green said, trying to avoid casting her gaze in Silver's direction. "Blue is too busy and I can't let the young kids alone."

Despite his friends answer, Silver wasn't mad or disappointed at them. If anything he understood what his friends' responsibilities.

"Don't worry Silver, I'm free to go!" Ethan said with a confident smirk, giving his friend a strong slap on the back.

Silver sighed at his antics and said, "Okay, we have a team. I'll explain to you guys what I was planning and we'll still manage to act today."

The group discussed ideas and tactics for a couple of hours, getting ready to once again defend the world from another threat.

Unfortunately for them, there was nothing in Silver's plan that had predicted that the four of them would disappear, like many others who stepped into the forest.

A year later, Red, Ethan, Brendan and May were still missing, and Silver was still hunting for answers, all the while a new evil team was rising with plans to bring down the world's order.


End file.
